Search Headquarters : Science : Astronomy : Cosmology

Cambridge Cosmology - Public Homepage
Webpages created by the Cambridge University cosmology group for a general audience, with information about black holes, the big bang models, cosmic strings, galaxies and galaxy clusters, and inflation.
http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/gr/public/cos_home.html

Cosmology
Basic and advanced tutorials on the structure of the universe, the basics of the big bang models, inflation, and the connection between cosmology and string theory. From Patricia Schwarz's Official String Theory Website.
http://www.superstringtheory.com/cosmo/index.html

Cosmology
Collection of articles about various aspects of cosmology, from the physics of the big bang phase to the shape of the universe. Part of the "Spotlights on Relativity" series on Einstein Online; written for a general audience.
http://www.einstein-online.info/en/spotlights/cosmology/index.html

Cosmology
Entry in Eric Weisstein's World of Physics. Contains many links to related entries, and a list of useful materials.
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Cosmology.html

Cosmology: A Research Briefing
Online book from the National Academy of Sciences, published in 1995 by the National Research Council's Board on Cosmology as a re-assessment of the cosmological research earlier examined by the Physics Survey Committee. Includes chapters on the cosmic background radiation, the large scale structure of universe, and the physics of the early universe.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=9293

Cosmology Made Simple
A one-page, non-mathematical introduction to modern cosmology, from the basics (isotropy and homogeneity) to the question of dark matter.
http://www.geocities.com/autotheist/Physics/cosmo.htm

Faith and Reason: Cosmology
Companion site to the PBS mini-series "Faith & Reason". The cosmology section discusses the challenge to traditional Christian views posed by the scientific understanding of cosmological evolution, and ways in which they might be reconciled.
http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/intro/cosmo-frame.html

LEVEL 5 - A Knowledgebase for Extragalactic Astronomy and Cosmology
Extensive collection of articles, monographs, data bases, tools and essays related to extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. Maintained by Barry F. Madore (Caltech and Carnegie Observatory).
http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/index.html

MACHO Project
Homepage of a collaborative research project which uses gravitational lensing to examine the hypothesis that a significant part of dark matter consists of objects such as brown dwarfs or planets. These objects are collectively known as MAssive Compact Halo Objects, or MACHOs (McMaster University).
http://wwwmacho.mcmaster.ca/

Max Tegmark
Personal homepage of cosmologist Max Tegmark (MIT). Includes useful material about the cosmic background radiation (movies and data analysis efforts), but also about the foundations of quantum mechanics.
http://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/

Multidimensional Gravity and Cosmology
Review article by V. N. Melnikov on exact solutions in multidimensional cosmology. Based on talks given at the eigth Marcel Grossmann Meeting, in Jerusalem.
http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9801037

Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial
Site maintained by a UCLA astronomy professor, which features an introduction to cosmology (which uses no more than high-school level mathematics), links to resources, a section on "fads and fallacies", and comments on latest developments.
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog.htm

Runaway Universe
Companion website for a PBS NOVA program originally broadcast in 2000, which examines the size, future and fate of the universe. Contains background material on mapping the universe, supernovae as standard candles, and a virtual tour of the universe.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/universe/

Science and Reason: The Big Bang
A fairly complete overview of current cosmological models, from the cosmological principle to cosmic expansion and the physics of the early universe. Uses very simple formulas.
http://www.scienceandreason.net/oq/oq-co008.htm

Stephen Hawking's Universe
Companion website to the PBS-Thirteen/WNET six-part series of the same name. Includes information about many facets of cosmology and the researchers involved, as well as a Teacher's Guide.
http://www.thirteen.org/hawking/

Topology of the Universe
A simple introduction to the idea that the universe might have a more complicated shape than is usually assumed, and to the consequences of that idea. Written by Mark Baltovic; uses simple mathematical concepts only. [PDF]
http://www.maths.lse.ac.uk/Personal/mark/topos.pdf

WMAP Introduction to Cosmology
Basic introduction to modern cosmology, aimed at a general audience. This NASA site is part of the outreach efforts for the WMAP space probe, which measures an "Echo of the Big Bang": the cosmic microwave background radiation.
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/index.html

Cosmological Models
Lecture notes for graduate-level lectures originally given at the 1998 Cargese summer school, by George Ellis and Henk van Elst. The notes give a systematic presentation of a 1+3 covariant approach to studying the geometry, dynamics, and observational properties of the cosmological models of general relativity. (September 2, 2008)
http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9812046

Cosmic Topology
Technical article by M. Lachieze-Rey and J. P. Luminet about cosmic topology: global properties of the universe that are not restricted by general relativity. (January 9, 2003)
http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9605010

The Big Bang (One More Time)
Article from Christian Science Monitor about Paul Steinhardt and his work on the "Ekpyrotic Universe", a speculative model which uses concepts of string theory to arrive at a periodically repeating series of big bangs. (May 9, 2002)
http://csmonitor.com/2002/0509/p11s01-stss.html

Introduction to Cosmology
Condensed lecture notes at graduate-student level on standard cosmology, the physics of the early universe, and inflation. Based on lectures given by G. Lazarides (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) at the 1998 Corfu Summer Institute on Elementary Particle Physics. (April 26, 2002)
http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/9904502

Current Trends in Mathematical Cosmology
Technical article which reviews current unsolved problems in mathematical cosmology, including the question of singularities, problems associated with the definition and asymptotic structure of the notion of cosmological solutions, and problems related to the qualification of approximations. By Spiros Cotsakis (University of the Aegean). (July 28, 2001)
http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0107090

Minkowski Functionals in Cosmology
A brief (if technical) tutorial on the basic features of Minkowski functional, a new class of morphological measures. Includes information on their practical application for simulation data and galaxy redshift catalogues. By J. Schmalzing, M. Kerscher, and T. Buchert. (October 5, 1995)
http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9508154

Introduction to Cosmology
Lecture notes by David H. Lyth (Lancaster University), with a special emphasis on large scale structure, the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave radiation, and inflation. Presupposes basic knowledge of physics at an undergraduate level, as well as some familiarity with particle physics. (December 12, 1993)
http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9312022