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402-0395-50L 4 Credits DR , MSC D-PHYS

Cosmological Frontiers of Gravity

Lecturers & Examiners: Dr. Lavinia Heisenberg
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:54:57

Abstract

These lecture series will be dedicated to different advanced topics within the framework of theoretical cosmology and gravity. A detailed introduction into the successful construction of gravitational interactions will be given, together with their cosmological implications.

Objective

These lecture series will be dedicated to combining theory with cosmological observations. First of all, I will discuss the consistent construction of prominent gravity theories, both from a geometrical as well as field theory perspectives. I will introduce more general space-time geometries as well as the building blocks of field theories based on additional degrees of freedom in the gravity sector. Coming from the theory side, I will explain the theoretical constraints and consistency checks that can be applied to fundamental gravity theories. In the observational side, the confrontation of gravity theories with cosmological observations is a crucial ingredient in testing these theories. A natural starting point will be the study of the background evolution. Theory parameters can then be constrained using the distance redshift relation from Supernovae, the distance priors method from CMB and BAO measurements. Given the recent developments in gravitational wave physics, I will discuss the implications of light bosons in the regime of strong gravity.

Resources

Literature

Useful reading materials: cosmology book by Matthias Bartelmann, gravitational waves book by Michele Maggiore and the articles arXiv:1807.01725, arXiv:1806.05195

General Information

Language
English
Levels
DR , MSC

Examination

Type
ungraded semester performance

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture with exercise Cosmological Frontiers of Gravity
Block course from 07.06.2021 until 18.06.2021
  • 07.06. - 18.06 Date 08:45-11:30 (HIT H 42)
30 h semesterly

Offered In