The Extragalactic Universe

3 credits · Graduate credit

This course provides an overview of the physics of an expanding universe as a whole and of its structure formation (galaxies and galaxy clusters). It focuses particularly on galaxy formation in the matter dominated epoch, and places emphasis on the co-evolution of dark matter and baryon components. Topics include the concordance cosmological model, origin and probes of dark matter, the impact of dark energy on large-scale structure, applications of gravitational lensing, growth of dark matter halos, origin of galactic disks, effects of stellar feedback on the abundance and structure of galaxies, formation of the first galaxies and globular star clusters.