Advanced Topics in Galaxies and Cosmology

Code:

AST603

Acronym:

AST603

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Astronomy

Instance: 2016/2017 - A

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Physics and Astronomy
Course/CS Responsible:	Doctoral Program in Astronomy

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
PDA	0	P.E. do Programa Doutoral em Astronomia	1	-	6	30	162

Teaching language

English

Objectives

The main aim is to provide advanced training in topics at the forefront of research in Galactic and Extragalactic Astronomy, as well as in Cosmology.

Learning outcomes and competences

It is expected that the students acquire knowledge, train autonomy and technical skills, and develop initiative, to be able to start doing research work on those topics.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Basic knowledge about Galactic and Extragalactic Astronomy, as well as  Cosmology at the level of the book "An introduction to modern cosmology" (A. Liddle).

Program

The course consists of two modules: one on the Galaxy and extragalactic astronomy and the other on cosmology. In each academic year, two researchers of excellence, experts in each of the two areas, are invited to teach the modules. They define, each year, the specific contents of the modules, guaranteeing however that fundamental topics in the two course areas are covered.

Possible topics are the following:
- Physical Properties of Galaxies
- Physical mechanisms relevant for galaxy evolution
- Observations and state-of-the art galaxy formation and evolution models
- Ongoing surveys of the nearby and the most distant Universe
- Cosmological models
- Large scale structure formation and evolution
- Clusters of galaxies as cosmological probes
- Dark energy

Mandatory literature

Peacock J. A.; Cosmological physics. ISBN: 0-521-42270-1
Weinberg Steven 1933-; Cosmology. ISBN: 978-0-19-852682-7
Ryden Barbara; Introduction to cosmology. ISBN: 0-8053-8912-1
Kolb Edward W. 340; The early universe. ISBN: 0-201-11604-X
Mo Houjun; Galaxy formation and evolution. ISBN: 9780521857932
Padmanabhan T.; Theoretical astrophysics, Vol 3: Galaxies and cosmology. ISBN: 0521566304
Longair Malcolm S.; Galaxy Formation. ISBN: 978-3-540-73477-2

Complementary Bibliography

Amendola Luca; Dark energy. ISBN: 9780521516006
Vilenkin A. & Shellard E. P. S. ; Cosmic Strings and Other Topological Defects. ISBN: 0521654769, 9780521654760

Comments from the literature

Teaching methods and learning activities

The two modules have equal duration and are lectured at different times. In classes, detailed theory is presented, with discussion of applications (exercises) and examples published in recent research papers. Students are encouraged to participate actively in class. Namely, students implement or develop algorithms/models, presenting their results to peers and teacher; critically analyze and discuss with each other and with the teacher published paper, proposing extensions, improvements or alternative approaches to test the results obtained; write down observation proposals for modern telescopes/instruments. In addition to the technical component, all these works imply the domain (and, in some cases, its oral or written presentation) of the underlying theory relative to the objects under study and of the state-of-the-art of the topics involved.

 

keywords

Physical sciences > Astronomy > Astrophysics
Physical sciences > Astronomy > Cosmology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Prova oral	50,00
Trabalho escrito	17,00
Trabalho laboratorial	33,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	132,00
Frequência das aulas	30,00
Total:	162,00

Calculation formula of final grade

Individual assignements (2-3 per module) are given to students involving the implementation of specific technices – programming an algorithm or model discussed in class and delivering a short write-up of the results; critically analysing data or a scientific result; preparing a proposal for observations that tackles an open question/problem discussed in class; make a short proposal for a way to improve simulations/models. Some of these works are orally presented and discussed by the students. The assignments given in the context of each module are graded taking into account the work required and level of difficulty.

The final classification is the average of the classifications obtained in the two modules.

Classification improvement

The final classification cannot be improved.