Unit ASTROPARTICLE AND COSMOLOGY
- Course
- Physics
- Study-unit Code
- GP005481
- Curriculum
- Astrofisica e astroparticelle
- Teacher
- Nicola Tomassetti
- Teachers
-
- Nicola Tomassetti
- Hours
- 42 ore - Nicola Tomassetti
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2025
- Offered
- 2026/27
- Learning activities
- Affine/integrativa
- Area
- Attività formative affini o integrative
- Sector
- FIS/05
- Type of study-unit
- Opzionale (Optional)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian or English if foreign students will be attending the lectures.
- Contents
- Observational foundations of cosmology and cosmological principles. Newtonian and relativistic cosmodynamics. The Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric and the Friedmann equations. Cosmological models and fundamental parameters. Cosmography, redshift, and distance scales. Physics of the early Universe. Recombination and the cosmic microwave background radiation. Primordial nucleosynthesis. Dark matter and aspects of astroparticle physics. Searches for antimatter and observations of gamma rays, neutrinos, and cosmic rays. Open problems in modern cosmology. Introduction to cosmological inflation.
- Reference texts
- Bergstrom & Goobar, Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics. Weinberg, Gravitation and Cosmology. Grupen, Astroparticle Physics. Handouts and notes are made available to the students along the teaching period on the Unistudium online platform.
- Educational objectives
- The course aims to provide students with a coherent overview of modern cosmological models and the evolution of the Universe, connecting theory, observations, and fundamental physics. The main experimental evidence supporting the standard cosmological model will be discussed, together with the connections between cosmology, particle physics, and astroparticle physics. Particular attention will be devoted to the open problems of contemporary cosmology and their possible theoretical and observational developments.
- Prerequisites
- A basic knowledge of special relativity and subatomic physics is required in order to fully follow and understand the course contents.
- Teaching methods
- The course consists of lectures, each lasting 2 hours.
- Other information
- Although not mandatory, attendance at lectures is strongly recommended.
- Learning verification modality
- The examination consists of an oral interview lasting approximately 45–60 minutes, covering the main topics discussed during the course. For information on support services for students with disabilities and/or specific learning disorders (DSA), please refer to http://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa
- Extended program
- Observational foundations of cosmology, study of the Universe, the Copernican principle, and the cosmological principle. Expansion of the Universe and the Hubble–Lemaître law. Newtonian cosmodynamics with derivation of the evolution equations and the cosmological fluid equation.
Relativistic cosmology: review of special relativity and elements of general relativity required for the large-scale description of the Universe. Energy-momentum tensor for a perfect fluid. Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric and derivation of the Friedmann equations from Einstein’s field equations.
Cosmological models and fundamental parameters: solutions of the Friedmann equations in matter-, radiation-, and cosmological constant–dominated universes. Flat and curved universes. Density parameters and the ¿CDM model.
Cosmography: cosmological redshift and its physical interpretations. Definition of cosmological times (conformal time and lookback time). Cosmological distances (comoving, proper, luminosity, and angular diameter distances), cosmological horizons, and the size of the observable Universe.
Early Universe cosmology: thermal evolution of the hot Universe, decoupling of relativistic species and effective degrees of freedom. Recombination and formation of the cosmic microwave background, with brief remarks on anisotropies and its main statistical properties. Primordial nucleosynthesis and production of light elements.
Dark matter and astroparticle physics: the dark matter problem and the matter–antimatter asymmetry. Searches for primordial antimatter. Determination of the dark matter relic abundance through the freeze-out mechanism. Direct and indirect detection methods for dark matter. Role of cosmological neutrinos, cosmic rays, and gamma rays in astroparticle physics.
Open problems in modern cosmology and introduction to cosmological inflation as a solution to the horizon, flatness, and primordial perturbation problems. - Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile
- The course contributes to the understanding of fundamental scientific topics and to the development of critical skills in the analysis of complex physical models. In particular, it is related to Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education), by promoting advanced training in theoretical physics and astrophysics.