Frontiers of Cosmology

Abstract

Dedication, Preface Acknowledgments 1 Basics of Cosmology Monique Signore, Alain Blanchard 1. Geometry and Dynamics 2.Important quantities needed for observations 3. Some solutions of EFL equations:some cosmological models 4. The standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (SBBN) 5. Observations of "primordial abundances' 6. Confrontation of the observed "primordial abundances" to the predictions of the sBBN Conclusions References 2 X-ray View of Galaxy Clusters, William Forman 1. Observing Clusters in X-rays -- the Chandra Observatory 2. Regular Clusters XD Cooling Flows A478 3. Physics of Cluster Cores Acknowledgments References 3 Clusters: an optical point of view Christophe Adami 1. Cluster detections in the optical 2. Studies of clusters 3. Acknowledgements References 4 Cosmology with Clusters Alain Blanchard 1. Introduction 2. What is a cluster? 3. The spherical model 4. The mass function 5. Connection to the observations 6. Properties of Clusters and scaling relations 7. Clusters abundance evolution 8. The baryon fraction 9. Conclusion References 5 Astrophysical detection of Dark Matter S. Colafrancesco 1. Signals from the Dark universe 2. Inference probes 3. Physical probes 4. Conclusion References 6 Non-thermal processes in galaxy clusters S. Colafrancesco 1. Non-thermal and relativistic phenomena in galaxy clusters 2. The origin of cosmic rays in galaxy clusters 3. The astrophysics of cosmic rays in galaxy clusters 4. Conclusions References 7 Cosmological Inflation Alain Riazuelo 1. Introduction 2. The hot Big-Bang scenario and its problems 3. Inflation and inflationary dynamics 4. Basics of cosmological perturbations Synchronous gauge Longitudinal or Newtonian gauge Flat-slicing gauge 5. Inflationary perturbations 6. Basics of quantum field theory 7. Perturbation spectrum 8. Conclusion References 8 An introduction to quintessence Alain Riazuelo 1. The two cosmological constant problems 2. A scalar field as dark energy 3. Stability of the wQ = Const regime 4. Model building 5. Dark energy and structure formation 6. Observational status References 9 CMB Observational Techniques and Recent Results 1. Introduction 2. Observational Techniques 3. Recent Observations 4. Summary Acknowledgments References 10 Fluctuations in the CMB Andrew H. Jaffe 1. Introduction 2. Cosmological Preliminaries 3. The Last Scattering Surface 4. Perturbations on Large and Small Scales 5. Oscillations in the Primordial Plasma 6. The Power Spectrum of CMB Fluctuations 7. The CMB and Cosmological Parameters 8. Conclusions Acknowledgments References 11 Supernovae as astrophysical objects Bruno Leibundgut 1. Some History 2. Supernova classification 3. Input Energy 4. Core-collapse supernovae 5. Type Ia supernovae 6. Conclusions References 12 Cosmology with Supernovae Bruno Leibundgut 1. Introduction 2. The Hubble constant 3. The expansion history of the universe 4. Universal acceleration according to Type Ia supernovae 5. Characterising dark energy 6. Conclusions References 13 Gravitational lensing Francis Bernardeau 1. Introduction 2. Physical mechanisms Multiple images and displacement field The amplification matrix 3. Gravitational lenses in Cosmology The case of a spherically symmetric mass distribution Critical lines and caustics in realistic mass distributions 4. Cosmic Shear: weak lensing as a probe of the large-scale structure 5. Conclusions and perspectives: cosmic shear in a precision Cosmology era References 14 Dark Matter Jaan Einasto 1. Introduction 2. Local Dark Matter 3. Clusters and Groups of Galaxies 4. Masses of Galaxies 5. The Nature of Dark Matter 6. Summary Acknowledgments References 15 Dark Matter and Galaxy Formation Joseph Silk 1. Challenges of dark matter 2. Global baryon inventory 3. Confirmation via detailed census of MWG/M31 4. Hierarchical galaxy formation 5. Unresolved issues in galaxy formation theory 6. Resurrecting CDM 7. An astrophysical solution: early winds 8. Observing CDM via the WIMP LSP 9. The future References 16 Non-Baryonic Dark Matter Paolo Gondolo 1. The need for non-baryonic dark matter 2. Popular candidates for non-baryonic dark matter 3. Neutralino dark matter searches High energy neutrinos from the core of the Sun or of the Earth Gamma-rays and cosmic rays from neutralino annihilation in galactic halos Signals from neutralino annihilation at the Galactic Center 4. Conclusions References