In 2020 the Boulder Cosmology Group met at 6PM for DVD lectures on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month and reading discussions on third Mondays at the Main Library (Monday discussions were usually in the second-floor Flatirons Room and Wednesday lectures in the first-floor Boulder Creek Room). Changes from the normal pattern are noted below.
See http://www.sackett.net/cosmologyAll.htm for a list of all materials covered by the Boulder Cosmology Group since it began in 2003.
2020 Second and Fourth Wednesdays: DVD Lectures from Professor Felix J. Lockman's course on “Radio Astronomy” that we began in October, 2019, followed by Professor Joshua Winn's course, “Introduction to Astrophysics”.
We will watch the 30 minute lectures using an “interruptus” format: at any point during the lecture anyone in the group can say stop and ask a question and the rest of the group will attempt to answer the question before proceeding. We will attempt to cover two lectures in each meeting. If we don't have time the next DVD lecture meeting will start with the second lecture (and this schedule will be adjusted).
Expected Schedule with Monday book discussions flagged in bold:
January 8, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Felix J. Lockman's course on
“Radio Astronomy”,
Lecture 11: Pulsars and Gravity,
and 12: Pulsars and the 300-Foot Telescope.
January 13, 2020 Book Discussion: Observational Cosmology, by Stephen Serjeant. Chapter 4 (continued (from section 4.4 on)).
Notes from Dave Peterson on Chapter 4: http://sackett.net/SerjeantNotes4Chapter4.pdf.
January 22, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Felix J. Lockman's course on
“Radio Astronomy”,
Lecture 13: The Big Bang: The Oldest Radio Waves,
and 14: H II Regions and the Birth of Stars.
February 10,
2020 Book Discussion: Observational Cosmology, by Stephen Serjeant. Chapter 5 (the distant multi-wavelength universe).
Note: This ^^^^ discussion is a week earlier than usual because of Presidents' Day.
Notes from Dave Peterson on Chapter 5: http://sackett.net/SerjeantNotes4Chapter5.pdf.
February 12, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Felix J. Lockman's course on
“Radio Astronomy”,
Lecture 15: Supernovas and the Death of Stars,
and 16: Radio Stars and Early Interferometers.
February 26, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Felix J. Lockman's course on
“Radio Astronomy”,
Lecture 17: Radio Source Counts,
and 18: Active Galactic Nuclei and the VLA.
March 11, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Felix J. Lockman's course on
“Radio Astronomy”,
Lecture 19: A Telescope as Big as the Earth,
and 20: Galaxies and Their Gas.
March 16, 2020 Book Discussion: Observational Cosmology, by Stephen Serjeant. Chapter 6 (black holes).
Notes from Dave Peterson on Chapter 6: http://sackett.net/SerjeantNotes4Chapter6.pdf.
Note: This ^^^^ discussion has been postponed. The library is closed until April 30 due to the Covid pandemic.
March 25, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Felix J. Lockman's course on
“Radio Astronomy”,
Lecture 21: Interstellar Molecular Clouds,
and 22: Star Formation and ALMA (the Atacama Array).
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/interstellar-molecular-clouds.
When you are done with the first lecture, scroll down to the next. The course guidebook can be found at
http://sackett.net/LockmanRadioAstronomy.pdf.
April 8, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Felix J. Lockman's course on
“Radio Astronomy”,
Lecture 23: Interstellar Chemistry and Life,
and 24: The Future of Radio Astronomy.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/interstellar-chemistry-and-life.
When you are done with the first lecture, scroll down to the next.The course guidebook can be found at
http://sackett.net/LockmanRadioAstronomy.pdf.
April 20, 2020 Book Discussion: Observational Cosmology, by Stephen Serjeant. Chapter 6 (black holes).
Notes from Dave Peterson on Chapter 6: http://sackett.net/SerjeantNotes4Chapter6.pdf.
Note: This ^^^^ discussion will be done via conference call.
April 22, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 1: Zooming Out to Distant Galaxies,
and 2: Zooming In to Fundamental Particles.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/zooming-out-distant-galaxies.
When you are done with the first lecture, scroll down to the next. The course guidebook can be found at
http://sackett.net/WinnAstrophysicsIntro.pdf.
May 13, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 3: Making Maps of the Cosmos,
and 4: The Physics Demonstration in the Sky.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/making-maps-cosmos.
May 18, 2020 Book Discussion: Observational Cosmology, by Stephen Serjeant. Chapter 7 (gravitational lensing).
Notes from Dave Peterson on Chapter 7: http://sackett.net/SerjeantNotes4Chapter7.pdf.
Note: This ^^^^ discussion will be done via conference call if the library is still closed.
May 27, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 5: Newton's Hardest Problem,
and 6: Tidal Forces.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/newtons-hardest-problem.
June 10, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 7: Black Holes,
and 8: Photons and Particles.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/black-holes-0.
June 15, 2020 Book Discussion: Observational Cosmology, by Stephen Serjeant. Chapter 8 (the intervening universe) and Epilogue.
Notes from Dave Peterson on Chapter 8: http://sackett.net/SerjeantNotes4Chapter8.pdf.
Note: This ^^^^ discussion will be done via conference call if the library is still closed.
June 24, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 9: Comparative Planetology,
and 10: Optical Telescopes.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/comparative-planetology.
July 8, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 11: Radio and X-ray Telescopes,
and 12: The Message in a Spectrum.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/radio-and-x-ray-telescopes.
July 20, 2020 Book Discussion: Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy, by Kip Thorne. Chapters 1 through 5.
Notes from Dave Peterson: http://sackett.net/ThorneBlackHoleTimeWarpNotes.pdf.
Note: This ^^^^ discussion will be done via conference call if the library is still closed.
July 22, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 13: The Properties of Stars,
and 14: Planets around Other Stars.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/properties-stars.
August 12, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 15: Why Stars Shine,
and 16: Simple Stellar Models.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/why-stars-shine.
August 17, 2020 Book Discussion: Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy, by Kip Thorne. Chapters 6 through 10.
Links from Chela relevant to Thorne: Einstein versus Physical Review and
http://sackett.net/GWavesAMS.pdf.
Notes from Dave Peterson: http://sackett.net/ThorneBlackHoleTimeWarpNotes.pdf.
Note: This ^^^^ discussion will be done via conference call if social distancing is still recommended.
August 26, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 17: White Dwarfs,
and 18: When Stars Grow Old.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/white-dwarfs.
When you are done with the first lecture, scroll down to the next. The course guidebook can be found at
http://sackett.net/WinnAstrophysicsIntro.pdf.
September 9, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 19: Supernovas and Neutron Stars,
and 20: Gravitational Waves.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/supernovas-and-neutron-stars.
When you are done with the first lecture, scroll down to the next. The course guidebook can be found at
http://sackett.net/WinnAstrophysicsIntro.pdf.
September 21, 2020 Book Discussion: Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy,
by Kip Thorne. Chapters 11 through Epilogue.
Notes from Dave Peterson: http://sackett.net/ThorneBlackHoleTimeWarpNotes.pdf.
Notes Part 2 from Dave: http://sackett.net/ThorneBlackHoleTimeWarpNote2.pdf.
Link from Susan to an October 2019 Thorne update on advances since he wrote this book.
Thorne confuses vacuum fluctuations with zero-point energy in Box 12.4.
Link from Mike to Phys Rev A papers by CU's Barut clears this up.
Links from Chela: http://www.sackett.net/ChelaEmail091320.pdf,
Einstein versus Physical Review,
and http://sackett.net/GWavesAMS.pdf.
Note: This ^^^^ discussion will be done via conference call since social distancing is still recommended.
September 23, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 21: The Milky Way and Other Galaxies,
and 22: Dark Matter.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/milky-way-and-other-galaxies.
When you are done with the first lecture, scroll down to the next. The course guidebook can be found at
http://sackett.net/WinnAstrophysicsIntro.pdf.
October 14, 2020
DVD Lectures - Professor Joshua Winn's course,
“Introduction to Astrophysics”,
Lecture 23: The First Atoms and the First Nuclei,
and 24: The History of the Universe.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/first-atoms-and-first-nuclei.
When you are done with the first lecture, scroll down to the next. The course guidebook can be found at
http://sackett.net/WinnAstrophysicsIntro.pdf.
October 19, 2020 Book Discussion: The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics, by Robert Crease and Charles Mann. Chapters 1 through 9.
November 16, 2020 Book Discussion: The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics,
by Robert Crease and Charles Mann. Chapters 10 through 15.
Relevant talk by Sean Carroll on gauge theory that Susan found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuqKsBQnE2A.
Notes from Dave Peterson: http://sackett.net/SecondCreationComments.pdf.
November 25, 2020
DVD Lectures - The Farthest: The Voyager Spacecraft.
Note: Watch this documentary on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/farthest-0.
December 9, 2020
DVD Lectures - Neil deGrasse Tyson's course,
“The Inexplicable Universe”,
Lecture 5: Inexplicable Space, and 6: Inexplicable Cosmology.
Note: Watch these lectures on Kanopy. Here's the link:
https://boulderlibrary.kanopy.com/video/inexplicable-space.
December 14, 2020 Book Discussion: The Second Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics,
by Robert Crease and Charles Mann. Chapters 16 through Afterword.
Note: This ^^^^ discussion is a week earlier than usual.
Notes from Dave Peterson: http://sackett.net/SecondCreationComments.pdf.
Reference from Chela for Weak Interactions: Deep Down Things by Bruce Schumm, Ch8 pages 243-254, and Ch9 pages 283-332.
For those of you without the 1996 revised edition: http://sackett.net/SecondCreationChapter20.pdf.
For more information, e-mail group leader Jeff Grove: jeff1.grove@gmail.com.
This is http://www.sackett.net/cosmologySchedule2020.htm, last updated August 16, 2021.