Cosmology: the birth, the present, and the fate of our Universe

Aims of the course

• To provide a full structure and understanding to your learning in this subject, through a framework that gives a clear and comprehensive understanding of the nature of the universe through a review of its origin, structure, and evolution from the Big Bang to today, and on into the future.
• To provide an understanding of modern cosmology, the scientific study of the large-scale properties of the universe as a whole.
• To provide a framework, in this present golden era of astronomy, within which you may better understand the science of astronomy encountered on multimedia, and to place into context the importance of new discoveries.
• To help you take full advantage of online resources, such as YouTube astronomy channels, audiobooks, and astronomy books aimed at the general public.
• To encourage you to attend astronomical observing opportunities and consider undertaking additional astronomy courses elsewhere.

Course content overview

• Assuming no prior knowledge, as celestial explorers in today’s modern era of precision cosmology, and armed with full-spectrum vision and multi-messenger tools, we’ll explore the entire history of our Universe. From birth to death through its origin, evolution, and structure, with precise, reliable answers based on a spectacular series of recent breakthroughs in the last few decades.
• Cosmology, an ambitious field that concerns itself with the entire universe, as well as all of time, is presently in the midst of a truly remarkable period of growth, particularly in the last 20 to 30 years.  Precision is indeed possible, even on the grandest of scales, in which to nail down the various parameters, with an uncertainty in these values of just ~1% or so, that have worked in concert to determine the structure of the universe over its eons of existence, along with all the eons to come - long sought-after numbers that define the form and age of the universe.
• A universe that is vast, pushing comprehension to its limits, but surprisingly one that bears witness to the fact that the consistency of our laws of nature throughout the universe means that it is understandable. This is a remarkable fact, for as Neil DeGrasse Tyson points out, the Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you, and yet the same laws of science apply everywhere. That is, the laws of physics are universal. This is why we can use spectroscopy and studies of the behaviour of distant stars and planets under gravity to derive information about them. Atoms in distant stars and galaxies obey the same quantum laws everywhere, allowing us to interpret information conveyed by their spectra. The motions of planets, stars, galaxies and galaxy clusters can be understood using the universal laws of gravity and motion, whether we use the version complied by Newton or Einstein.
• By the end of this course, we will understand how cosmology, as a subject, which not that long ago carried a faint hint of disreputable scientific study, has moved from pure and often wild speculations, to the most solid of solid scientific foundations. A universe that we now comprehend was birthed from a microscopic dot of existence to the size of a watermelon through faster-than-light expansion for the merest fraction of a fraction of a second. But the universe, that we could understand and live in, then followed, born silently in the shortest of instances, in a torrent of energy in full blazing light. Then, following basic scientific laws within the first three minutes of its existence, proceeding the creation of subatomic particles, the light elements, hydrogen, and helium, were formed. From the creation of the first atoms, and the operation of the known forces of physics, the rest was history, as laid out beautifully in the LambdaCDM model, our current best picture of the origin and evolution of the Universe.
• From dark matter to dark energy, cosmic inflation and the possibility of a multiverse, we will comprehend the full wealth of mysteries of this vast universe. An observable universe that was once considered finite and unbounded, as in the surface of a sphere by analogy with nothing outside of it, is now thought likely infinite and more or less flat in shape, with any possible curvature only visible in the metaverse beyond.
• To comprehend this stunningly rich and coherent picture presented by modern observational cosmology, that is dominated by the Big Bang theory, requires getting to grips with the two essential languages for cosmology: General Relativity, Einstein’s theory of gravity; and the Standard Model of physics, which explains how the basic building blocks of matter interact, governed by four fundamental forces.
• Armed with this knowledge we will address some of the biggest questions in modern astronomy, such as: What came before the Big Bang? How old is the universe? Will the universe end? and if so, how? In addition we will touch on some of its most fundamental mysteries which remain unsolved. So, if you truly wish to expand your horizons, and occasionally blow your mind in the process, then please join me for this one truly amazing journey.

Target audience

Non-astronomers who are captivated by the night sky and simply wonder 'why'?

Welcome week (Week 0)

Purpose:

• personal introductions
• introducing the course
• useful reading
• personal objectives

Learning outcomes:

By studying this week, the students should have: 

• become familiar with navigating around the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and from VLE to links and back
• test your ability to access files and the web conferencing software and sort out any problems with the help of the Technology Enhanced Learning team
• learn how to look for, assess and reference internet resources
• contribute to a discussion forum to introduce yourself to other students and discuss why you are interested in the course and what you hope to get out of your studies 

Teaching Week 1: An inventory of the contents of the Universe

Learning outcomes: 

This week will cover:

• understanding the quantities, and types, of matter and radiation in the cosmos
• understanding the concepts of dark matter and dark energy
• the uniformity and expansion of the cosmos

Teaching Week 2: Modelling the Universe

Learning outcomes: 

This week will cover:

• understanding the cosmological assumptions and the Copernican principle that underly modern cosmological models
• comparing the Steady State and Big Bang models, and the overwhelming evidence for the latter theory
• a brief over of all the ages of the universe

Teaching Week 3: The very early Universe - in the beginning...

Learning outcomes: 

This week will cover:

• understanding the smallest scales we can observer, and consider what came before the hot Bing Bang, that is inflation
• neutrino decoupling and particle annihilation to complete the first second of the universes existence

Teaching Week 4: The early Universe - Creation of atoms to recombination

Learning outcomes: 

This week will cover:

• Understanding the creation of the lightest elements via the process of nucleosynthesis.
• Studying the Cosmic Microwave Background and its cosmological implications.
• Considering the Dark Ages and the emergence large-scale structure.

Teaching Week 5: The Universe today, the far future, and its ultimate fate

Learning outcomes: 

This week will cover:

• discussing the stelliferous era, beginning with the first stars and galaxies in the universe, and ending with the fate of the galaxies
• considering the various degenerate, black hole and dark era's
• concluding with a discussion on the fate of the universe, the consequences of dark energy and consideration of such concepts such as the multiverse

Week 6: what next?

• assessment of student learning
• assessment of student satisfaction
• encouragement of further study

This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.  

Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences. 

Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language to get the maximum benefit from the course. 

Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours of self-study time, for example, reading materials, although this will vary from person to person. 

While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material). 

Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the VLE so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (using discussion boards etc).

Fees 

The course fee includes access to the course on our VLE, personal feedback on your work from an expert tutor, a certificate of participation (if you complete work and take part in discussions), and access to the class resources for two years after your course finishes. 

Concessions 

For more information, please see our concessions information page. 

Alison Fordham Bursary

University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education is proud to offer the Alison Fordham bursary, which is awarded to students who wish to study on one of our short online courses via our VLE, reducing the fee paid by 50%. The bursary is limited to a single award for each set of online courses. 

Application criteria:  

• applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study
• applicants who can demonstrate financial need 

For more information, please see our bursaries information page. 

A certificate of participation and a digital credential will be awarded to those who contribute constructively to weekly discussions, exercises and assignments for the duration of the course.