Syllabus: Ast727: Cosmology / Ast729: Galaxies
Semester: 2025 Spring / Summer / Fall
Instructor: David Jeffery

See also: Course Web Site / Extended Syllabus.

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3. Catalog descriptions:
   1. Ast727: Cosmology: Classical cosmology, the isotropic universe, gravitational lensing, the age and distance scales, the early universe, observational cosmology, matter in the universe, galaxies and their evolution, active galaxies, galaxy formation and clustering, cosmic background fluctuations.
   2. Ast729: Galaxies: Observation and theoretical basis for our current understanding of galactic astronomy. Major topics include Morphology of Galaxies, the Milky Way, equilibria of collisionless systems, spiral structure, and dark matter.
   3. Note the catalog topics must be covered in the course by UNLV policy.
   Prerequisites: Graduate standing / Credits: 3 credits.
4. Library: See also Library Search. There are NO library and NO specific external information resources recommended for this course.
5. Artificial Intelligence (AI): NO AI may be used for this course and there is NO use for it in this course either.
6. Cosmology & Galaxies: Course Website / Extended Syllabus: Find by googling "unlv david jeffery cosmology", but it may NOT be the first item.
7. Textbook:
   1. Ast727: Supplementary textbook Liddle, Andrew, 2015, An Introduction to Modern Cosmology, 200 pages: Level: 4th year or intro grad. There is NO need to buy a copy since it is just a supplementary textbook AND can be read at Lied search result. We will get a 3-reader-at-a-time license if we try real hard.
   2. Ast729: Cimatti: Introduction to Galaxy Formation and Evolution: From Primordial Gas to Present-Day Galaxies (2020). Cimatti (2020) is a "required" textbook and yours truly thinks it is a reasonable investment, but in many respects it will be dated in a few years and it already is a bit and it has NO problem bank. However, if a student feels they do NOT need Cimatti (2020) and can rely on class notes and relevant articles (see extended syllabus section Galaxies Lectures), they can do without the textbook.
8. Required Readings: See required readings for:
   1. Ast727 at Cosmology Lectures.
   2. Ast729 at Galaxy Lectures.
9. Assignment due dates:
   1. Schedule of Lectures: Not fixed. See order of lectures, required readings, and homeworks for:
      1. Ast727 at Cosmology Lectures.
      2. Ast729 at Galaxy Lectures.
   2. The Required Readings are due about the time the corresponding lecture is covered in clases. There is NO mark for the readings.
   3. The homeworks are NOT handed in nor marked: they are the study guide for the exams.
   4. Students/instructor give ∼ 3 journal club reports during the semester. We approximately cycle through the class list for who does a report.
10. Evaluation: In-class tests 40 %. Final 40 %. Participation in journal club element 20 %. NO extra credit.
11. Exam Schedule Including Final Exam: Tentatively: Exam 1: Feb28 W; Exam 2: Apr03 W. For the Final, see the Calendars and Schedules for May08 W, 3:10--5:10 pm.
12. Remote Instruction Qualifications: None so far. If necessary, see Course Website / Extended Syllabus: Remote Instruction Qualifications.
13. Summer Semester Qualifications: None so far.
14. Student Learning Outcomes: Students will have:
    1. Learnt some of the basics of modern cosmology / galaxies at the level of an introductory graduate course.
    2. Will have read/skimmed/discussed a fairly large number of current articles on cosmology and galaxies: e.g., those at listed Cosmology & Galaxies Articles: Significant/Useful Articles.
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