Astrophysics (Index)About

cosmology

(study of the life of the universe)

Cosmology is the study of the origin, the evolution, and the eventual fate of the universe. The term physical cosmology can be used to specify that physical science is the basis of your study. The term cosmos is a synonym for universe.

Current physical cosmology is based on the cosmological principle that sufficiently basic natural laws that apply here also apply to the far reaches of the universe, i.e., objects observed at a distance are assumed to follow such laws. General relativity plays a big role in current cosmological theory (relativistic cosmology). Current thought places the beginning of the universe at about 13.8 billion years ago, the term for this beginning being the Big Bang. The Lambda-CDM model is the current favored detailed model, much contemporary cosmological research effort being to pin down its details through observation, and to explore its problems, such discrepancies with observation, and to explore possible improvements.

The adjective cosmological is often used to mean "involving distances or times when cosmology is relevant", i.e., the early universe and distances at which only the early universe is visible because of the time required for the electromagnetic radiation to reach us (cosmological distances). The adjective cosmic has the same meaning (at least roughly) and often which is used seems mere preference, or habit regarding a particular phrase, e.g., cosmological distance versus cosmic distance scale.

A cosmogony is a theory or model of the origin of the universe.


(science)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_cosmology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_the_universe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmogony
https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/c/cosmology
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/cosmo.html
https://astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog.htm
http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~aran/class/PHY100_10S/lectures/P100_20_Cosmology_Inflation_DM.pdf

Referenced by pages:
21-cm line
ACBAR
alternative cosmologies
angular power spectrum
anisotropy
anomalous microwave emission (AME)
antimatter
ARCADE
AREPO
ASCA
Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT)
band shifting
baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO)
baryonic matter
Big Bang
Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN)
blind analysis
brane
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA)
Carnegie Supernova Project (CSP)
chemical equilibrium (CE)
CMB dipole
CMB polarization
CMBFAST
coherent light
comoving units
conditional stellar mass function (CSMF)
Cosmic Lens All-sky Survey (CLASS)
cosmological constant (Λ)
cosmological distance
cosmological equation of state
cosmological model
cosmological principle
cosmological redshift
cosmological simulation
curvature
dark age
Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI)
deceleration parameter (q)
decoupling
Deep Lens Survey (DLS)
density parameter
diffuse emission
f(R) gravity
false vacuum
foreground subtraction
free streaming
freeze-out
galaxy bias
Giant GRB Ring
gigayear (Gy)
gravitational wave background (GWB)
H-alpha (Ha)
H-beta (Hβ)
halo mass function (HMF)
halo model
Huge-LQG
ice
initial fluctuations
Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics (ITA)
intensity mapping (IM)
Kavli Institute
Lambda-CDM model (ΛCDM)
light cone
Limber approximation
lithium (Li)
luminosity distance (dL)
N-point function
neutrino (ν)
neutrinoless double beta decay
neutron capture
Pantheon
particle horizon
particle physics
peculiar velocity
polarimetry
quantum fluctuations
QUBIC
radio source counts
recombination
redshift space
reheating
relativistic astrophysics
relic
Roman Space Telescope (RST)
scale factor (a)
sound speed
SPICA
standard model
star count
structure formation
Subaru PFS
Subaru Telescope
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZ effect)
Supernova Cosmology Project (SCP)
supernova survey
symmetry breaking
Theory of Everything (TOE)
Thomson optical depth (τT)
time-delay cosmology
timescale (t)
tired light
topological defect
Type Ia supernova
ultra-faint dwarf galaxy (UFD)
void
weak lensing (WL)
Wide-field Multi-object Spectrograph (WFMOS)
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)

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