"… a book that makes the mathematical and theoretical aspects of relativistic cosmology accessible to the interested reader, but also a book that bridges the divide between the fields of theory and observation in modern cosmology … I found this book to be a clear and concise summary of the many different aspects of relativistic cosmology … it will certainly be a valuable tool for graduate students and researchers alike. I will be recommending it as reading material for my own PhD students, and suspect that I will be frequently returning to it myself as reference material. It is a valuable contribution to the subject." Timothy Clifton, General Relativity and Gravitation
Part I. Foundations: 1. The nature of cosmology; 2. Geometry; 3. Classical physics and gravity; Part II. Relativistic Cosmological Models: 4. Kinematics of cosmological models; 5. Matter in the Universe; 6. Dynamics of cosmological models; 7. Observations in cosmological models; 8. Light-cone approach to relativistic cosmology; Part III. The Standard Model and Extensions: 9. Homogeneous FLRW universes; 10. Perturbations of FLRW universes; 11. The cosmic background radiation; 12. Structure formation and gravitational lensing; 13. Confronting the Standard Model with observations; 14. Acceleration from dark energy or modified gravity; 15. 'Acceleration' from large scale inhomogeneity?; 16. 'Acceleration' from small scale inhomogeneity?; Part IV. Anisotropic and Inhomogeneous Models: 17. The space of cosmological models; 18. Spatially homogeneous anisotropic models; 19. Inhomogeneous models; Part V. Broader Perspective: 20. Quantum gravity and the start of the Universe; 21. Cosmology in a larger setting; 22. Conclusion: our picture of the Universe; Appendix; References; Index.