Product Description

This book provides a concise introduction to the mathematical aspects of the origin, structure and evolution of the universe. The book begins with a brief overview of observational and theoretical cosmology, along with a short introduction to general relativity. It then goes on to discuss Friedmann models, the Hubble constant and deceleration parameter, singularities, the early universe, inflation, quantum cosmology and the distant future of the universe. This new edition contains a rigorous derivation of the Robertson-Walker metric. It also discusses the limits to the parameter space through various theoretical and observational constraints, and presents a new inflationary solution for a sixth degree potential. This book is suitable as a textbook for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. It will also be of interest to cosmologists, astrophysicists, applied mathematicians and mathematical physicists.

Product Details

• Published on: 2001-11-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
"The writing style is clear, concise, and quite technical.... Recommended." Choice

About the Author
Jamal Nazrul Islam received his PhD and ScD from the University of Cambridge. In 1984 he became Professor of Mathematics at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh and is currently Director of the Research Centre for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Chittagong. Professor Islam has held research positions in university departments and institutes throughout the world, and has published numerous papers on quantum field theory, general relativity and cosmology. He has also written and contributed to several books.

Customer Reviews

mathematically rigourous introdcution to the material
Prof Islam has done well in presenting a book which has some of the important parts of mathematical cosmology which everyone else misses out. It's about late undergraduate level, and some basic knowledge of GR will be required. The book starts with an introduction to GR which will not teach you GR. You'll need a seperate book for that. Then it goes on to rigorously derive the FRW equations of the big bang model, which is useful. It then goes through the usual suspects, nucleosysnthesis etc. and the cosmological problems. It's a strange book, with some very weird exact inflationary solutions at the end which I didn't really understand the point of. But it is a good book, with lots of info in and very useful to have on the shelf. I wouldn't learn the whole of cosmology with this one though, or you'll be missing some of the picture.