Simon Lilly: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2018

Name Prof. em. Dr. Simon Lilly
FieldAstrophysics
Address
Dep. Physik
ETH Zürich, HIT J 11.2
Wolfgang-Pauli-Str. 27
8093 Zürich
SWITZERLAND
E-maillilly@astro.phys.ethz.ch
DepartmentPhysics
RelationshipProfessor emeritus

NumberTitleECTSHoursLecturers
402-0101-00LThe Zurich Physics Colloquium Information 0 credits1KR. Renner, G. Aeppli, C. Anastasiou, G. Blatter, S. Cantalupo, C. Degen, G. Dissertori, K. Ensslin, T. Esslinger, J. Faist, M. Gaberdiel, T. K. Gehrmann, G. M. Graf, R. Grange, J. Home, S. Huber, A. Imamoglu, P. Jetzer, S. Johnson, U. Keller, K. S. Kirch, S. Lilly, L. M. Mayer, J. Mesot, B. Moore, D. Pescia, A. Refregier, A. Rubbia, T. C. Schulthess, M. Sigrist, A. Vaterlaus, R. Wallny, A. Wallraff, W. Wegscheider, A. Zheludev, O. Zilberberg
AbstractResearch colloquium
Objective
402-0385-68LTopics in the Evolution of the Universe4 credits1V + 1SS. Lilly
AbstractThe course examines the formation and evolution of galaxies in the Universe. There will be a general introduction about how we observe the evolution of the Universe, and the theory of dark matter structure formation in the Universe. We will then look at several aspects of the more complex evolution of the "baryonic" component of the Universe, using a combination of lectures and student seminars.
ObjectiveThe first goal is to give students an overall understanding of the most important processes observed in the evolving universe. However, another very important goal for this course concerns more the nature of scientific research. By focusing on practical questions at the forefront of our knowledge, the course will also expose students to the challenges that are encountered in carrying out research using "passive" investigations, in this case astronomical observations. These include the challenges of inferring causal relations from data, the meaning of probability when describing classical phenomena, the difficulties of dealing with an evolving population, and the importance of the prevailing paradigm in formulating what are the most interesting scientific questions to be asked. Many of these issues will therefore be of general interest for other emerging areas of science in which large datasets are passively queried.