Frontiers of Cosmology

Dedication, Preface Acknowledgments;

1 Basics of Cosmology

1. Geometry and Dynamics ; 2. Important quantities needed for observations

3. Some solutions of EFL equations:some cosmological models; 4. The standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (SBBN); 5. Observations of ``primordial abundances' ; 6. Confrontation of the observed ``primordial abundances' ' to the predictions of the sBBN; Conclusions; References

2 X-ray View of Galaxy Clusters,

1. Observing Clusters in X-rays -- the Chandra Observatory; 2. Regular Clusters XD Cooling Flows A478; 3. Physics of Cluster Cores; Acknowledgments; References;

3 Clusters: an optical point of view;

1. Cluster detections in the optical; 2. Studies of clusters; 3. Acknowledgements; References

4 Cosmology with Clusters;

1. Introduction; 2. What is a cluster? ; 3. The spherical model; 4. The mass function;

5. Connection to the observations; 6. Properties of Clusters and scaling relations; 7. Clusters abundance evolution; 8. The baryon fraction; 9. Conclusion; References

5 Astrophysical detection of Dark Matter ;

1. Signals from the Dark universe ; 2. Inference probes; 3. Physical probes; 4. Conclusion; References

6 Non-thermal processes in galaxy clusters ;

1. Non-thermal and relativistic phenomena in galaxy clusters; 2. The origin of cosmic rays in galaxy clusters; 3. The astrophysics of cosmic rays in galaxy clusters ; 4. Conclusions; References

7 Cosmological Inflation ;

1. Introduction; 2. The hot Big-Bang scenario and its problems ; 3. Inflation and inflationary dynamics; 4. Basics of cosmological perturbations ; Synchronous gauge; Longitudinal or Newtonian gauge; Flat-slicing gauge ; 5. Inflationary perturbations; 6. Basics of quantum field theory; 7. Perturbation spectrum; 8. Conclusion; References

8 An introduction to quintessence ;

1. The two cosmological constant problems; 2. A scalar field asdark energy; 3. Stability of the w_Q = Const regime ; 4. Model building; 5. Dark energy and structure formation; 6. Observational status; References

9 CMB Observational Techniques and Recent Results

1. Introduction; 2. Observational Techniques ; 3. Recent Observations; 4. Summary; Acknowledgments; References;

10 Fluctuations in the CMB ; Andrew H. Jaffe

1. Introduction; 2. Cosmological Preliminaries; 3. The Last Scattering Surface ; 4. Perturbations on Large and Small Scales; 5. Oscillations in the Primordial Plasma; 6. The Power Spectrum of CMB Fluctuations; 7. The CMB and Cosmological Parameters; 8. Conclusions; Acknowledgments; References

11 Supernovae as astrophysical objects;

1. Some History; 2. Supernova classification; 3. Input Energy; 4. Core-collapse supernovae ;

5. Type Ia supernovae ; 6. Conclusions; References

12 Cosmology with Supernovae ;

1. Introduction; 2. The Hubble constant; 3. The expansion history of the universe; 4. Universal acceleration according to Type Ia supernovae ; 5. Characterising dark energy ; 6. Conclusions; References

13 Gravitational lensing;

1. Introduction; 2. Physical mechanisms; Multiple images and displacement field; The amplification matrix ; 3. Gravitational lenses in Cosmology; The case of a spherically symmetric mass distribution; Critical lines and caustics in realistic mass distributions; 4. Cosmic Shear: weak lensing as a probe of the large-scale structure; 5. Conclusions and perspectives: cosmic shear in a precision; Cosmology era; References

14 Dark Matter ;

1. Introduction; 2. Local Dark Matter; 3. Clusters and Groups of Galaxies; 4. Masses of Galaxies ;

5. The Nature of Dark Matter; 6. Summary; Acknowledgments; References

15 Dark Matter and Galaxy Formation;

1. Challenges of dark matter; 2. Global baryon inventory; 3. Confirmation via detailed census of MWG/M31; 4. Hierarchical galaxy formation; 5. Unresolved issues in galaxy formation theory; 6. Resurrecting CDM ; 7. An astrophysical solution: early winds; 8. Observing CDM via the WIMP LSP; 9. The future ; References

16 Non-Baryonic Dark Matter;

1. The need for non-baryonic dark matter; 2. Popular candidates for non-baryonic dark matter; 3. Neutralino dark matter searches; High energy neutrinos from the core of the Sun or of the Earth; Gamma-rays and cosmic rays from neutralino annihilation in galactic halos; Signals from neutralino annihilation at the Galactic Center; 4. Conclusions ; References