What is Cosmology: Definition and 918 Discussions

Cosmology (from Greek κόσμος, kosmos "world" and -λογία, -logia "study of") is a branch of astronomy concerned with the studies of the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to today and on into the future. It is the scientific study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe. Physical cosmology is the scientific study of the universe's origin, its large-scale structures and dynamics, and its ultimate fate, as well as the laws of science that govern these areas.The term cosmology was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's Glossographia, and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher Christian Wolff, in Cosmologia Generalis.Religious or mythological cosmology is a body of beliefs based on mythological, religious, and esoteric literature and traditions of creation myths and eschatology.
Physical cosmology is studied by scientists, such as astronomers and physicists, as well as philosophers, such as metaphysicians, philosophers of physics, and philosophers of space and time. Because of this shared scope with philosophy, theories in physical cosmology may include both scientific and non-scientific propositions, and may depend upon assumptions that cannot be tested. Cosmology differs from astronomy in that the former is concerned with the Universe as a whole while the latter deals with individual celestial objects. Modern physical cosmology is dominated by the Big Bang theory, which attempts to bring together observational astronomy and particle physics; more specifically, a standard parameterization of the Big Bang with dark matter and dark energy, known as the Lambda-CDM model.
Theoretical astrophysicist David N. Spergel has described cosmology as a "historical science" because "when we look out in space, we look back in time" due to the finite nature of the speed of light.

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  1. Bandersnatch

    A Black hole mass coupled to expansion -- astrophysical source of dark energy?

    Observational evidence for cosmological coupling of black holes and its implications for an astrophysical source of dark energy Comments?
  2. G

    Programs Should I major in Physics & Astronomy or Physics & Math?

    I'm currently in my first year of a combined major in Physics and Astronomy. I'm hoping to study theoretical cosmology, and get a PhD in physics. I've been told it would be wise to get a double major in Physics and Math if I wish to study theory, but would it also be wise to get a combined major...
  3. V

    A Cosmological Density Perturbation vs Homogeneity: Questions Answered

    When arriving at the standard model of cosmology, i.e. the exapnding universe, we assume based on experirmental data that the cosmos is homogenous on large enough scales. But when we go back in time, when the galaxies are beginning to form, we note that because of the growth of density...
  4. Al-Layth

    I Should I study astronomy first or cosmology first?

    tldr summary
  5. P

    I Is Penrose's Cyclic Cosmology Model Only Applicable on a Local Scale?

    A recent thread asked about Penrose's proposal on cyclic cosmology. It was closed due to lack of any remotely acceptable sourcing, even after prompting. Much of the original professional publication on this is not available on arxiv. However the following includes a summary of conformal cyclic...
  6. S

    I Hubble flow kinetic energy into other types of energy?

    Spacetime expands at an accelerated rate and the particles with movement associated to this expansion are coupled to the Hubble flow. In many papers that I've read, objects coupled to the Hubble flow are treated as if they have some velocity and kinetic energy associated with it.However, can...
  7. F

    A Expression of Shot noise when expanding ##a_{\ell m}## coefficients

    I would like to arrive at the following expression for the quantity ##o_{\ell}## ( with "DM" for Dark Matter ): ##o_{\ell}=b_{s p}^2 C_{\ell}^{D M}+B_{s p}## with Poisson noise ##B_{s p}=\frac{1}{\bar{n}}(\bar{n}## being the average number of galaxies observed). the index "sp" is for spectro...
  8. harutsuki

    I think I ended up in the wrong Laboratory? (Theoretical Cosmology)

    TL;DR Summary: I dont enjoy my lab subject. I am currently in grad school (not US) and in the theoretical Cosmology laboratory, however I feel like I ended up in the wrong side. I did undergrad research project in astrophysical data simulation and thought that this is what I want to do in...
  9. S

    Are there online cosmology book clubs for studying together?

    Wondering if there are any online “book clubs” that people read cosmology textbooks together?
  10. S

    I Conservation of energy in quasar outflows?

    I found this article* about the behavior of quasar outflows in cosmology and how they can create a magnetic field. In section 2.1.4., the authors say that when a quasar produces a "wave" or an outflow, the material will be emitted with energy coming from both the quasar itself and the Hubble...
  11. S

    I Avoiding heat death in an accelerated expanding universe?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe Is the heat death of the universe completely unavoidable in an universe with an accelerated expansion dominated by dark energy like ours? Or can there be any way to avoid it according to current knowledge, observations and experiments...
  12. Sciencemaster

    I Calculating Spacetime Around Multiple Objects

    In describing the spacetime around a massive, spherical object, one would use the Schwarzschild Metric. What metric would instead be used to describe the spacetime around multiple massive bodies? Say, for example, you want to calculate the Gravitational Time Dilation experienced by a rocket ship...
  13. S

    I Deviations of conservation laws in cosmological evolution?

    If energy is "not conserved" in General Relativity (or at least, it is difficult to define it) in the context of an expanding accelerating spacetime (like it happens in our Universe), are there any observations of deviations from the strict conservation laws in the evolution and formation of...
  14. G

    I Data Showing Dark Matter Is Not Cold Neutrinos?

    How do we know that cold neutrinos do not make up 100% or a large percentage of the dark matter content in the universe? In my mind, the only way to prove that dark matter is not simply cold neutrinos would be to measure the density of cold neutrinos in the universe and then calculate the...
  15. S

    I Energy from quantum systems in an expanding universe?

    I found a paper (https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0411299.pdf) which talks about quantum systems emitting energy due to spacetime expansion. Is this true or only a hypothesis?
  16. cosmologyscience

    Exploring the Universe: Galaxy Formation, Redshift, and Cosmology

    Hello, I'm an independent researcher in cosmology and working on topics like cosmological redshift, galaxy formation and galaxy cluster dynamics. Came across the forum searching for details about the solar system orientation in the galaxy rotation disk. Very inspired and enthusiastic about the...
  17. S

    I Multiple (Non-Interacting) Universes?

    Before anything, I would like to clarify that I am aware that this is speculative physics more than established mainstream physics (and Smoot is not claiming that his ideas are true). However I think that it is interesting to discuss these models even if they are not yet proven to be right. I...
  18. A

    A How to Plot the Light Path in a Space-Time Diagram Using Python?

    I am trying to replicate the space time plot (the 2nd plot with Proper distance vs Time) as in this thread: space-time I wrote everything in python using the astropy cosmology package. Everything went smooth, but I am stuck at plotting the light path on the 'purple path', as per the above...
  19. Onyx

    B Sign of Expansion Scalar in Expanding FLRW Universe

    Considering the FLWR metric in cartesian coordinates: ##ds^2=-dt^2+a^2(t)(dx^2+dy^2+dz^2)## With ##a(t)=t##, the trace of the extrinsic curvature tensor is ##-3t##. But why is it negative if it's describing an expanding universe, not a contracting one?
  20. R

    On the origin and the evolution of information in the Universe

    [Mentor Note -- thread moved from the schoolwork forums to the technical forums] Homework Statement:: Tentative Note and summary on the origin and the evolution of information in the universe. Relevant Equations:: none As a teacher of physics I got many questions asked by my students when...
  21. S

    I Receding movement of a stopped object in an accelerating universe?

    Imagine we attach an imaginary cosmological scale rope to an object that is very far away from us. Before attaching the string, the object would be receding from us due to spacetime expansion. After attaching it, tension would form in the string and we would eventually stop the object. After...
  22. S

    I Cosmic strings increasing internal energy?

    I was reading an article by Edward Harrison, which tackles the problems of conservation of energy at cosmological scales. At some point (point 2.4) he cites several article, including one by Rees and Gott, which he says indicates that the internal energy of a comoving volume (e.g. a cosmic...
  23. S

    I Many Worlds as Many Histories?

    I was reading this paper from George Smoot (https://arxiv.org/abs/1003.5952) where he assumes the holographic principle as true and conjectures that our universe would be encoded on the "surface" of an apparent horizon as the weighted average of all possible histories. In that way, there would...
  24. F

    A Relation between a_{\ell m} noise and Poisson noise with C_{\ell}

    We assume two galaxy population, ##\mathrm{A}## and ##\mathrm{B}##; the corresponding maps have the following ##a_{\ell m}## : ## \begin{aligned} &a_{\ell m}^{A}=b_{A} a_{\ell m}^{M}+a_{\ell m}^{p A} \\ &a_{\ell m}^{B}=b_{B} a_{\ell m}^{M}+a_{\ell m}^{p B} \end{aligned} ## Here, ##b_{A}## and...
  25. SH2372 General Relativity - Lecture 9

    SH2372 General Relativity - Lecture 9

    0:00 Gravitational lensing 23:19 Cosmology 33:00 Robertson-Walker spacetime 38:20 FLRW universe 1:01:35 Big Bang
    • Orodruin
    • Media item
    • Big bang Cosmology Gravitational lensing
    • Comments: 0
    • Category: Relativity
  26. A

    Looking for an up-to-date cosmology textbook

    I know I should not study cosmology from books that are too dated. Can you recommend an up-to-date cosmology book? I am studying GR from Carroll's book. Do I need to study astrophysics first or other topics?
  27. Tertius

    I Co-Moving Coordinates & Lapse Function N(t) in ADM Decomposition

    In the ADM decomposition, like in the construction of the FRW metric, the coordinates are defined to be co-moving, so we know $$d\tau = dt$$ (i.e. the lapse function is normalized away) Starting from a five-dimensional embedded hyperboloid (as in carroll pg. 324) ## -u^2 + x^2 + y^2 + z^2 + w^2...
  28. Adwit

    From General Relativity to Dark Energy

    If we insert the values from (2.9), (2.10), (2.11) into (2.5) & (2.6) how can we get (2.13) & (2.14) ?? I need to see the calculations step by step.
  29. S

    I If the Universe had a different size, would physics change?

    I found an article by James Bjorken (https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0210202) which argues that universes with different size would have different physics (like different Standard Model parameters). When applying this reasoning to our own universe, Is this pure conjecture? Or is there some truth...
  30. SherLOCKed

    I Will the upcoming experiment PICO measure kSZ temperature anisotropy?

    I know for sure PICO will be measuring polarization anisotropies with high fidelity. In addition, the PICO science paper shows that it will make full-sky Compton-y maps but the plots are mostly limited to l=1000. Will PICO be able to measure kSZ temperature anisotropy at l=3000?
  31. Arman777

    A Understanding distances in Cosmology

    I am trying to understand this graph but I am confused about the distance definitions. So there's an object located at a comoving distance ##r##. The proper distance of the object at ##z'## can be written as $$d(z{'}) = \frac{1}{1+z{'}}\int_0^{z{'}} \frac{dz{'}}{H(z{'})}$$ In this case...
  32. BiaCarvalho

    A Can Representing Ideas be Possible?

    but I could not develop, is it really possible to represent this way?
  33. Vick

    I Formula for redshift of photon decoupling

    I have come across an old formula from my notes and I have no reference for it but it is using truncated digits in its formula to calculate the redshift for decoupling. The formula is nearly as accurate as the observed data from Planck 2018. So I would like to figure out the derivation of those...
  34. M

    Math Math needed for researching Cosmology?

    Greetings everyone, I'm looking for ideas about what areas of math I should do to prepare for a PhD in Cosmology. (So far I have an undergrad math & stats degree). I personally love pure math and view it as a series of puzzles; but somehow cosmology sounds more "applied". Anyway there are so...
  35. M

    Preparing for a PhD in Cosmology: What Math Should I Focus On?

    Greetings everyone, It's lovely to be here and I decided to join because I thought I might be able to get ideas about what math I should do to prepare for a PhD in Cosmology. (All I have so far is an undergrad math & stats degree). I mean I love pure math and view it as a series of puzzles...
  36. K

    I What does the equation dΩ32 = dr2 + r2dΩ22 mean in terms of flat space?

    A 1-sphere exists in 2D space. It is a circle in flat space. A 2-sphere is a 1-sphere embedded in 3D space. Its surface is non flat and 2 dimensional. A 3-sphere is a 2-sphere embedded in 4D space. Its surface is non flat and 3 dimensional. What does this last sentence mean in...
  37. Soony143

    How Do Physics Forums Assist in Solving Complex Research Queries?

    It is very amazing help8ng and encouraging forum. I am a research student of MS PHYSICS at COMSATS UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD. I hope this firum will be much helpful to help me finding some tedious numerical solutions of a research paper.
  38. Buzz Bloom

    I Observations fit poorly with the Standard Model of Cosmology

    Reference: https://scitechdaily.com/breaking-cosmology-too-many-disk-galaxies-a-significant-discrepancy-between-prediction-and-reality/ The following are quotes from the reference. 1. The Standard Model of Cosmology describes how the universe came into being according to the view of most...
  39. SherLOCKed

    How is the Power Spectrum of Matter Density Field Defined?

    The definition of power spectrum of matter density field is given by eq(1). I have also seen definitions of power spectra given by eq(2) . Does this mean (2\pi^3) has been absorbed in the correlation function? $$P_{xx}(k)=(2\pi^3)\delta(k-k^\prime)<x(k)x(k^\prime)>$$ .. (1)...
  40. robphy

    I Ta-Pei Cheng's "Relativity & Cosmology" Course on YouTube

    I was browsing YouTube (again) and stumbled upon this set of lectures by Ta-Pei Cheng. (I've seen the cover of the textbooks... but I'm not familiar with the author-lecturer or the details of the texts... but this looks interesting.) http://www.umsl.edu/~chengt/...
  41. katatosh

    Major in Physics or Physics/Astronomy for Grad School Cosmology?

    Hello all! I have been taking an academic break from school for certain mental health reasons that I won't waste your time talking about. Now, I am only a freshman in college. My school's physics department currently offers 2 majors: Physics and Physics/Astronomy. Obviously, I have lots of time...
  42. CyclicAvatar

    PhD in condensed matter theory or theoretical cosmology

    Hi all, I just graduated from my master's program in theoretical physics. I did 60% of the coursework in high energy physics and rest in condensed matter theory plus a few experimental physics courses. I did my master's thesis in what can be called as theoretical cosmology, studying particle...
  43. I

    Converting an expression of a particular k-mode to the spatial domain

    $$n_\vec{k} = \omega a^2(\vec{k})\tag{1}$$ One way is to write the inverse Fourier transforms of the terms above. So, eqn (1) becomes $$\int\mathrm{d}^3x\ n(\vec{x})e^{-i\vec{k}\cdot\vec{x}} = \omega \int\mathrm{d}^3x^\prime\ a(\vec{x^\prime})e^{-i\vec{k}\cdot\vec{x^\prime}}...
  44. gregatphysics

    I Do all geodesics begin and end at the big bang?

    So. It was late night, the limpid sky a near cloudless darkness, somewhat lightened by the waxing moon. I being somewhat stoned and looking at the stars and constellations as I sometimes do, and it came to seem to me, in my imagination, that In the spaces between the stars, I was observing (in...
  45. ergospherical

    Astrophysics Cosmology and Astrophysics through problems: Padmanabhan

    I’ve really been struggling with this book since I started it a couple of days ago. It’s essentially a problem book designed to teach you about astrophysics, structure formation, radiation, fluid dynamics, etc. through a curated set of questions. Some of the questions take a ridiculously long...
  46. F

    A Calculating the variance of integrated Poisson noise on a defined quantity

    It is in cosmology context but actually, but it is also a mathematics/statistical issue. From spherical harmonics with Legendre deccomposition, I have the following definition of the standard deviation of a ##C_\ell## noised with a Poisson Noise ##N_p## : ## \begin{equation}...
  47. E

    I Cosmology: Compton Drag Explained

    What is the Compton Drag in cosmology?
  48. MathematicalPhysicist

    A Holographic Cosmology lecture of Leonard Susskind

    In the following lectures: Prof. Susskind writes the terms ##\exp(3Ht_n)## and ##\exp(3ht_n)##. If I understand correctly he computes ##R(t)=R_0 \exp[\int^{t_n}H(t')dt']## where ##R(t)## is the scale factor of the Universe and ##H(t')## is Hubble's parameter. What I still don't understand is...
  49. F

    A Photometric Galaxy Clustering Error and Poisson Noise

    The error on photometric galaxy clustering under the form of covariance which is actually a standard deviation expression for a fixed multipole ##\ell## : ## \sigma_{C, i j}^{A B}(\ell)=\Delta C_{i j}^{A B}(\ell)=\sqrt{\frac{2}{(2 \ell+1) f_{\mathrm{sky}} \Delta \ell}}\left[C_{i j}^{A...
  50. M

    I So I wrote a book on cosmology....

    I have been studying cosmology, quantum field theory, and inflation all by myself, taking notes, solving the equations, and when I write down my work, it looks like a book. I think of self-publishing it; I believe it could be useful to others interested in the field. However, I am only a...
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