Catalog

The Early Universe

Physics MIT CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 23 lectures

The Early Universe provides an introduction to modern cosmology. The first part of the course deals with the classical cosmology, and later part with modern particle physics and its recent impact on cosmology. In the News ----------- For more about Professor Guth's work, {{% resource_link "1ef78221-f94a-4a63-aecd-ee2bb1fafc09" "listen to this interview" %}} from WBUR, Boston's National Public Radio news station. You may also be interested in this MIT Alumni Association Podcast {{% resource_link "7fbb14d5-43ba-4360-ac55-6d7b5382ccda" "Inflationary Cosmology—Is Our Universe Part of a Multiverse?" %}} with Professor Guth.

Syllabus

  1. 1 Lecture 1: Inflationary Cosmology: Is Our Universe Part of a Multiverse? Part I
  2. 2 Lecture 2: Inflationary Cosmology: Is Our Universe Part of a Multiverse? Part II
  3. 3 Lecture 3: The Doppler Effect and Special Relativity
  4. 4 Lecture 4: The Kinematics of the Homogeneous Expanding Universe
  5. 5 Lecture 5: Cosmological Redshift and the Dynamics of Homogeneous Expansion, Part I
  6. 6 Lecture 6: The Dynamics of Homogeneous Expansion, Part II
  7. 7 Lecture 7: The Dynamics of Homogeneous Expansion, Part III
  8. 8 Lecture 8: The Dynamics of Homogeneous Expansion, Part IV
  9. 9 Lecture 9: The Dynamics of Homogeneous Expansion, Part V
  10. 10 Lecture 10: Introduction to Non-Euclidean Spaces
  11. 11 Lecture 11: Non-Euclidean Spaces: Closed Universes
  12. 12 Lecture 12: Non-Euclidean Spaces: Open Universes and the Spacetime Metric
  13. 13 Lecture 13: Non-Euclidean Spaces: Spacetime Metric and Geodesic Equation
  14. 14 Lecture 14: The Geodesic Equation
  15. 15 Lecture 15: Black-Body Radiation and the Early History of the Universe, Part I
  16. 16 Lecture 16: Black-Body Radiation and the Early History of the Universe, Part II
  17. 17 Lecture 17: Black-Body Radiation and the Early History of the Universe, Part III
  18. 18 Lecture 18: Cosmic Microwave Background Spectrum and the Cosmological Constant, Part I
  19. 19 Lecture 19: The Cosmological Constant, Part II
  20. 20 Lecture 20: Supernovae Ia and Vacuum Energy Density
  21. 21 Lecture 21: Problems of the Conventional (Non-inflationary) Hot Big Bang Model
  22. 22 Lecture 22: The Higgs Field and the Cosmological Magnetic Monopole Problem
  23. 23 Lecture 23: Inflation

Course materials