Cosmology

From Nobel Prize–winning physicist P. J. E. Peebles, the story of cosmology from Einstein to today Modern cosmology began a century ago with Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity and his notion of a homogenous, philosophically satisfying cosmos. Cosmology's Century is the story of how generations of scientists built on these thoughts and many new measurements to arrive at a well-tested physical theory of the structure and evolution of our expanding universe. In this landmark book, one of the world's most esteemed theoretical cosmologists offers an unparalleled personal perspective on how the field developed. P. J. E. Peebles was at the forefront of many of the greatest discoveries of the past century, making fundamental contributions to our understanding of the presence of helium and microwave radiation from the hot big bang, the measures of the distribution and motion of ordinary matter, and the new kind of dark matter that allows us to make sense of these results. Taking readers from the field's beginnings, Peebles describes how scientists working in independent directions found themselves converging on a theory of cosmic evolution interesting enough to warrant the rigorous testing it passes so well. He explores the major advances—some inspired by remarkable insights or perhaps just lucky guesses—as well as the wrong turns taken and the roads not explored. He shares recollections from major players in this story and provides a rare, inside look at how science is really done. A monumental work, Cosmology's Century also emphasizes where the present theory is incomplete, suggesting exciting directions for continuing research.

Modified gravity models play an important role in contemporary theoretical cosmology. The present book proposes a novel approach to the topic based on techniques from noncommutative geometry, especially the spectral action functional as a gravity model. The book discusses applications to early universe models and slow-roll inflation models, to the problem of cosmic topology, to non-isotropic cosmologies like mixmaster universes and Bianchi IX gravitational instantons, and to multifractal structures in cosmology. Relations between noncommutative and algebro-geometric methods in cosmology is also discussed, including the occurrence of motives, periods, and modular forms in spectral models of gravity. Contents: PrefaceAcknowledgmentsGravity and Matter in Noncommutative GeometryRenormalization Group Flows and Early Universe ModelsCosmic TopologyAlgebro-geometric Models in CosmologyMixmaster CosmologiesThe Spectral Action on Bianchi IX CosmologiesFractal and Multifractal Structures in CosmologyNoncommutative Quantum CosmologyBibliography Readership: Graduate students and researchers in mathematical physics and theoretical cosmology. Keywords: Cosmology;Gravity;Particle Physics;GeometryReview: Key Features: While there are recent books that focus on applications of noncommutative geometry to particle physics models, there is presently no other book that focuses on applications to cosmology

We read in order to know we are not alone, I once heard, and perhaps it could also be suggested that we write in order not to be alone, to endorse, to promote continuity. The idea for this book took about 10 years to materialize, and it is the author’s hope that its content will constitute the beginning of further explorations beyond current horizons. More speci cally, this book appeals to the reader to engage upon and persevere with a journey, moving through the less well explored territories in the evolution of the very early universe, and pushing towards new landscapes. P- haps, during or after consulting this book, this attitude and this willingness will be embraced by someone, somewhere, and this person will go on to enrich our quantum cosmological description of the early universe, by means of a clearer supersymm- ric perspective. It is to these creative and inquisitive ‘young minds’ that the book is addressed. The reader will not therefore nd in this book all the answers to all the problems regarding a supersymmetric and quantum description of the early universe, and this remark is substantiated in the book by a list of unresolved and challenging problems, itself incomplete.

The twentieth century elevated our understanding of the Universe from its early stages to what it is today and what is to become of it. Cosmology is the weapon that utilizes all the scientific tools that we have created to feel less lost in the immensity of our Universe. The standard model is the theory that explains the best what we observe. Even with all the successes that this theory had, two main questions are still to be answered: What is the nature of dark matter and dark energy? This book attempts to understand these questions while giving some of the most promising advances in modern cosmology.

This unique volume contains the materials of the XXIXth International Workshop on High Energy Physics. The content of the volume is much wider than just high-energy physics and actually concerns all the most fundamental areas of modern physics research: high-energy physics proper, gravitation and cosmology. Presentations embrace both theory and experiment. Contents:12 Closed Doors and 8 Open Windows in Physics Beyond the SM (F Riva)On Possible Interpretation of the LHC Higgs-Like State in the Framework of the Non-Perturbative Effective Interaction of W-Bosons (B A Arbuzov)What Can the Higgs Tell Us About UV Physics? (A K Knochel)Recent Results from the Heavy Ion Program at RHIC (O Evdokimov)Top Quark Physics Results from LHC (C Ferro)Neutrino Oscillations: Recent Results and Perspectives (M M Khabibullin and Yu G Kudenko)High-Energy Collisions in Space-Time Perspective (V A Petrov)Inward Horizons of the Spinning Nucleons (A Prokudin)Supermassive Black Hole at the Galactic Center (A F Zakharov)Einsteinian Revolution's Misinterpretation: No True Black Holes, No Information Paradox: Just Quasi-Static Balls of Quark Gluon Plasma (A Mitra)Flaws in Black Hole Theory and General Relativity (S J Crothers)and other papers Readership: Advanced undergraduates and graduate students, and physicists working in the field of high energy physics. Keywords:Higgs Boson;Quark Gluon Plasma;Neutrino in Labs and Cosmos;Cosmology;Dark Matter

The workshop on The Cosmology of Extra Dimensions and Varying Fundamental Constants, which was part of JENAM 2002, was held at the Physics Department of the University of Porto (FCUP) from the 3rd to the 5th of September 2002. It was regularly attended by about 110 participants, of which 65 were officially registered in the VFC workshop, while the others came from the rest of the JENAM workshops. There were also a few science correspondents from the national and international press. During the 3 days of the scientific programme, 8 Invited Reviews and 30 Oral Communications were presented. The speakers came from 11 different European countries, and also from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Japan and the U.S.A. There were also speakers from six Portuguese research institutions, and nine of the speak ers were Ph.D. students. The contributions are presented in these proceedings in chronological order. The workshop brought together string theorists, particle physicists, theoretical and observational cosmologists, relativists and observational astrophysicists. It was generally agreed that this inter-disciplinarity was the greatest strength of the work shop, since it provided people coming into this very recent topic from the various different backgrounds with an opportunity to understand each other's language and thereby gain a more solid understanding of the overall picture.