The Universe: Poincaré Seminar 2015

Description

Contents Foreword The Big-Bang Theory: Construction, Evolution and Status 1. Introduction 1.1. From General Relativity to cosmology 1.2. Hypotheses 1.2.1. Gravity. 1.2.2. Non-gravitational sector. 1.2.3. Copernican principle. 1.2.4. Topology. 2. The construction of the hot big-bang model 2.1. General overview 2.2. Relativistic cosmology 2.2.1. Einstein static universe (1917). 2.2.2. de Sitter universe (1917). 2.2.3. Dynamical models (1922–. . . ) 2.3. The hot big-bang model 2.3.1. Equilibrium and beyond. 2.3.2. big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). Generalities on BBN.. Observational status. Discussion. 2.3.3. Cosmic microwave background. Recombination and decoupling. Last scattering surface. Properties of the cosmic microwave background. Residual fluctuations. 2.3.4. Existence of relics. 2.3.5. Summary. 2.4. Large scale structure and dark matter 2.4.1. Perturbation theory. Scalar modes. Vector modes. Tensor modes. Fourier modes. 2.4.2. Link to the observed universe. 2.4.3. Dark matter and 2.5. Modelling observations 2.5.1. Light propagation and distances. Fundamental equations. Sachs formalism. Distances. 2.5.2. Background universe. 2.5.3. Perturbation theory. Generalities. Weak lensing. CMB anisotropies. 2.5.4. Beyond perturbation theory. 2.5.5. Summary. 2.6. Summary: the ΛCDM model 3. The primordial universe 3.1. The inflationary paradigm 3.2. Early motivations: the problems of the hot big-bang model 3.3. Inflation 3.3.1. The idea of inflation. 3.3.2. Dynamics of single-field inflationary models. 3.3.3. Slow-roll formalism. 3.3.4. Chaotic inflation. 3.3.5. End of the inflationary phases. 3.4. A scenario for the origin of the large scale structure 3.4.1. Perturbation theory during inflation. 3.4.2. Setting the initial conditions. 3.5. Generic predictions and status 3.6. Extrapolation 3.6.1. Eternal inflation. 4. Conclusions Acknowledgements References The Planck Mission and the Cosmic Microwave Background 1. Introduction: historical perspective on cosmological theories and observations 2. Towards a standard model in cosmology 3. Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies 4. Determination of the ΛCDM cosmological model parameters 5. Extensions of the base ΛCDM model 6. Beyond the Standard Model of particle physics References Massive Black Holes: Evidence, Demographics and Cosmic Evolution 1. Introduction 2. First Evidence 3. NGC 4258 4. The Galactic Center Black Hole 5. Massive Black Holes in the local Universe 6. Demographics and MBH-galaxy “co-evolution” 7. AGN-MBH feedback 8. Non-Merger Evolution Paths of MBHs 9. MBH Spin 10. Early Growth 11. Zooming in on the Event Horizon Acknowledgements References New Worlds Ahead: The Discovery of Exoplanets 1. The Solar system paradigm: the end of certainties 2. Searching for exoplanets 2.1. Pulsar timing 2.2. Doppler spectroscopy 2.3. Transit 2.4. Gravitational microlensing 2.5. Imaging 2.6. Astrometry 2.7. Other detection channels 3. A wealth of possible worlds 4. Rule rather than exception: more exoplanets than stars in the Milky Way 5. Epilogue References