Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the radiation left over from the Big Bang. Recent analysis of the fluctuations in this radiation has given us valuable insights into our Universe and its parameters. Examining the theory of CMB and recent developments, this textbook starts with a brief introduction to modern cosmology and its main successes, followed by a thorough derivation of cosmological perturbation theory. It then explores the generation of initial fluctuations by inflation. The Boltzmann equation governs the evolution of CMB anisotropies and polarization is derived using the total angular momentum method. Cosmological parameter estimation and the lensing of CMB fluctuations and spectral distortions are also discussed. This textbook is the first to contain a full derivation of the theory of CMB anisotropies and polarization. Ideal for graduate students and researchers in this field, it includes end-of-chapter exercises, and solutions to selected exercises are provided.

Cosmic background radiation. --- Cosmic background radiation --- Background radiation, Cosmic --- Cosmic microwave background --- Cosmic microwave radiation --- Microwave background --- Extraterrestrial radiation

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Rhodri Evans tells the story of what we know about the universe, from Jacobus Kapteyn’s Island universe at the turn of the 20th Century, and the discovery by Hubble that the nebulae were external to our own galaxy, through Gamow’s early work on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and its subsequent discovery by Penzias and Wilson, to modern day satellite-lead CMB research. Research results from the ground-based experiments DASI, BOOMERANG, and satellite missions COBE, WMAP and Planck are explained and interpreted to show how our current picture of the universe was arrived at, and the author looks at the future of CMB research and what we still need to learn. This account is enlivened by Dr Rhodri Evans' personal connections to the characters and places in the story.

Popular Science. --- Popular Science in Astronomy. --- Cosmology. --- Science (General). --- Astronomy. --- Astronomie --- Astronomy & Astrophysics --- Physical Sciences & Mathematics --- Astronomy - General --- Cosmic background radiation --- History. --- Background radiation, Cosmic --- Cosmic microwave background --- Cosmic microwave radiation --- Microwave background --- Popular works. --- Extraterrestrial radiation --- Astronomy --- Deism --- Metaphysics

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This volume is dedicated to Riccardo Giacconi for his sixty-fifth birthday, on the occasion of his being awarded a “Laurea Honoris Causa” in physics at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. A meeting was held in his honor, and presentations were given that reflected the state-of-the-art of research on subjects related to Giacconi's scientific interests and achievements through the decades. This volume is based upon the papers presented at that meeting. It provides a tribute to Riccardo Giacconi for his outstanding contributions towards opening up the entire field of high energy astrophysics.

Cosmology. --- Cosmic background radiation. --- Galaxies. --- X-ray astronomy. --- Astronomy --- Space astronomy --- X-rays --- Extragalactic nebulae --- Nebulae, Extragalactic --- Background radiation, Cosmic --- Cosmic microwave background --- Cosmic microwave radiation --- Microwave background --- Extraterrestrial radiation --- Deism --- Metaphysics --- Giacconi, Riccardo. --- Giacconi, R. --- Universe.

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Nominated as an outstanding thesis by Professor Robert Crittenden of the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation in Portsmouth, and winner of the Michael Penston Prize for 2014 given by the Royal Astronomical Society for the best doctoral thesis in Astronomy or Astrophysics, this work aims to shed light on one of the most important probes of the early Universe: the bispectrum of the cosmic microwave background. The CMB bispectrum is a potential window on exciting new physics, as it is sensitive to the non-Gaussian features in the primordial fluctuations, the same fluctuations that evolved into today’s planets, stars and galaxies. However, this invaluable information is potentially screened, as not all of the observed non-Gaussianity is of primordial origin. Indeed, a bispectrum arises even for perfectly Gaussian initial conditions due to non-linear dynamics, such as CMB photons scattering off free electrons and propagating in an inhomogeneous Universe. Dr. Pettinari introduces the reader to this intrinsic bispectrum in a pedagogic way, building up from the standard model of cosmology and from cosmological perturbation theory, the tool cosmologists use to unravel the history of the cosmos. In doing so, he introduces SONG, a new and efficient code for solving the second-order Einstein and Boltzmann equations. Next, he moves on to answer the crucial question: is the intrinsic bispectrum going to screen the primordial signal in the CMB? Using SONG, he computes the intrinsic bispectrum and shows how its contamination leads to a small bias in the estimates of primordial non-Gaussianity, a great news for the prospect of using CMB data to probe primordial non-Gaussianity.

Astrophysics --- Astronomy & Astrophysics --- Physical Sciences & Mathematics --- Cosmic background radiation. --- X-ray astronomy. --- Background radiation, Cosmic --- Cosmic microwave background --- Cosmic microwave radiation --- Microwave background --- Extraterrestrial radiation --- Astronomy --- Space astronomy --- X-rays --- Cosmology. --- Classical and Quantum Gravitation, Relativity Theory. --- Gravitation. --- Field theory (Physics) --- Matter --- Physics --- Antigravity --- Centrifugal force --- Relativity (Physics) --- Deism --- Metaphysics --- Properties

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

In this decade, the transient universe will be mapped out in great detail by the emerging wide-field multiwavelength surveys, and neutrino and gravitational-wave detectors, promising to probe the astronomical and physical origin of the most extreme relativistic sources. This volume introduces the physical processes relevant to the source modeling of the transient universe. Ideal for graduate students and researchers in astrophysics, this book gives a unified treatment of relativistic flows associated with compact objects, their dissipation and emission in electromagnetic, hadronic and gravitational radiation. After introducing the source classes, the authors set out various mechanisms for creating magnetohydodynamic outflows in winds, jets and blast waves and their radiation properties. They then go on to discuss properties of accretion flows around rotating black holes and their gravitational wave emission from wave instabilites with implications for the emerging gravitational wave experiments. Graduate students and researchers can gain an understanding of data analysis for gravitational-wave data.

Relativistic astrophysics. --- Magnetohydrodynamics. --- Cosmic background radiation. --- Gravitational waves. --- Gravitational radiation --- Gravity waves (Astrophysics) --- General relativity (Physics) --- Gravitational fields --- Radiation --- Waves --- Background radiation, Cosmic --- Cosmic microwave background --- Cosmic microwave radiation --- Microwave background --- Extraterrestrial radiation --- Magneto-hydrodynamics --- MHD (Physics) --- Fluid dynamics --- Plasma dynamics --- Astrophysics --- Relativity (Physics)