Contents: This course intends to give the students a modern and up-to-date introduction to the science and experimental techniques relating to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). No prior knowledge of cosmology is assumed; rather, the course introduces the necessary concepts in the class, and partly depends on the mandatory cosmology course that is taught in parallel. The aim is to make the students interested in the vast field of CMB research, which continues to be one of the richest sources of information about our Universe.

Contents: This class provides an overview of current and future experimental efforts aimed at improving our understanding of the universe, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy. After briefly reviewing the current standard cosmological model, we will focus on the motivations, techniques and aims of the leading experiments in the field.

Schlüsselkompetenzen:
Abstrakte und konkrete analytische Problemformulierung, Konzentrationsfähigkeit und Durchhaltevermögen, selbstständige Lösung theoretisch physikalischer Aufgaben, Präsentation der Lösungsansätze.

Inhalte:
Newtonsche Mechanik: Zentralkraftprobleme; Mechanik des starren Körpers; Lagrange- und Hamilton-Formalismus; Maxwell-Gleichungen; Spezielle Relativitätstheorie; Elektro- und Magnetostatik, retardierte Potentiale, Strahlung und Wellen, Elektrodynamik in Medien; Symmetrien und Erhaltungssätze.

Mathematische Methoden der Physik: Gewöhnliche und partielle Differentialgleichungen, Variationsrechnung, Vektoranalysis.