Fourteen years is a long time, and especially in the field of cosmology new observational results and new theoretical ideas seem to appear at a steadily increasing rate. It is achallenge to try to review the current status, to give a reasonably fair account of new developments, and not to increase the size of the book out of all proportion. So this fourth edition is practically a new book, with many chapters and sections newly written, not just updated. I have kept the original layout of the book with three parts concerned with (I) the standard model, (II) some basic implications of quantum field theory, and (III) quest ions of structure formation. I have given special emphasis to the new observations of the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background, and attempted to explain their importance for cosmology as well as for structure formation models. There have also been improved measurements in almost every cosmologically relevant field, from the Rubble constant to element abundances and galaxy distribution statistics. Quite surprisingly, the standard cosmological models can still accommodate all these new obser vations.

One of the classics in cosmology Considerably expanded and many chapters have been rewritten Especially, the book now meets the demands of the rapidly growing fields of nuclear and particle astrophysics Can also be used as a textbook in graduate courses Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Gerhard Börner ist Professor für Physik an der Universität München und Mitarbeiter am Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik in Garching.Zahlreiche Veröffentlichungen zur Relativistischen Astrophysik und Kosmologie.

Klappentext

This fourth edition of Börner's "The Early Universe" is practically a new book, not just an updated version. In particular, to meet the wishes of many readers, it is now organized so as to make it more useful as a textbook. Problem sections are also added. In the center are the connections between particle physics and cosmology: the standard model, some basic implications of quantum field theory, and the questions of structure formation. A special feature of the book is the comparison of theoretical predictions with observations, separating "facts from fiction". Special emphasis is given to the observed anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background and the consequences drawn for cosmology and for the structure formation models. Nuclear and particle physicists and astrophysicists, researchers and teachers as well as graduate students will welcome this new edition of a classic text and reference.

In this corrected reprint first year results from WMAP have been added to takeaccount of recent developments.

Inhalt
I. The Standard Big-Bang Model.- 1. The Cosmological Models.- 2. Facts Observations of Cosmological Significance.- 3. Thermodynamics of the Early Universe in the Classical Hot Big-Bang Picture.- 4. Can the Standard Model Be Verified Experimentally?.- II. Particle Physics and Cosmology.- 5. Gauge Theories and the Standard Model.- 6. Grand Unification Schemes.- 7. Relic Particles from the Early Universe.- 8. Baryon Synthesis.- 9. The Inflationary Universe.- III. Dark Matter and Galaxy Formation.- 10. Typical Scales From Observation and Theory.- 11. The Evolution of Small Perturbations.- 12. Non-linear Structure Formation.- A. The Gauge-Invariant Theory of Perturbations.- A.1 The 3+1 Formalism.- A.1.1 Unperturbed Solutions.- A.1.2 Small Perturbations.- A.3 Gauge-Invariant Variables.- A.4 Linearized Einstein Equations for Gauge-Invariant Variables.- A.5 The General Solution.- B. Recent Developments First Year Results from WMAP.- B.1 Temperature Anisotropies.- B.2 Polarization Signal.- References.