Dark Energy: Theory and Observations

Description

Dark energy, the mysterious cause of the accelerating expansion of the universe, is one of the most important fields of research in astrophysics and cosmology today. Introducing the theoretical ideas, observational methods and results, this textbook is ideally suited to graduate courses on dark energy, and will also supplement advanced cosmology courses. Providing a thorough introduction to this exciting field, the textbook covers the cosmological constant, quintessence, k-essence, perfect fluid models, extra-dimensional models, and modified gravity. Observational research is reviewed, from the cosmic microwave background to baryon acoustic oscillations, weak lensing and cluster abundances. Every chapter ends with problems, with full solutions provided, and any calculations are worked through step-by-step.

Luca Amendola is Professor of Physics at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He is also an astronomer at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome, and has authored more than 100 papers in international journals and conference proceedings. Shinji Tsujikawa is Associate Professor at Tokyo University of Science in Japan, where he teaches cosmology and relativity. He has published more than 80 papers in international refereed journals and has over 60 collaborators worldwide.

'... tightly-packed, of a high standard, making appreciable demands upon the reader, student and researcher ... [this book] succeeds in its purpose of bringing the reader closer to an appreciation of the wonders and the complexities that cosmology sets out to elucidate.' Contemporary Physics 'One strength of Amendola and Tsujikawa's book is the level of detail it provides on dark energy models ... comprehensive.' Joshua Frieman, Physics Today