2MASS JHK image of the Milky Way, superimposed against CMB fluctuations from WMAP ASTR 5770 Spring 2006 Homepage

syllabus | timetable | reports | project | problems | diagrams | links | text

 target ASTR 5770 Cosmology Spring 2006: Midterm Reports and Final Presentations

Midterm Reports

This course will have no midterm. Instead, you will write a report on a paper which has appeared as an astro-ph preprint sometime within the last few years.

The report will count for 15% of your grade.

Reports are due on Fri 17 Mar. You are welcome to submit your report before the deadline.

Please email me the astro-ph number of your paper no later than one week before the deadline, i.e. by Fri 10 Mar. The numbers (and links) will be published on this page.

Guidelines

The paper should be on some topic in cosmology, but otherwise there is no restriction.

You may choose to report on a paper which is relevant to your Fiske project.

You may not report on a paper which you have been asked to report on elsewhere. Two people may not report on the same paper.

Your report should be in two parts. The first part should describe succinctly the principal arguments and results of the paper. The second part should be in the style of a "referee's report", and should bring out the merits and faults of the paper. Your report should include a recommendation to publish, revise, or reject.

You should imagine that the author(s) will read the report. Therefore you should be polite but factual at all times. If you make general criticisms, you should back these up with detailed specifics.

As referee, it is your responsibility to go through the paper with a fine toothcomb to check for errors, unclear statements, and misprints. If you like, you can mark up a copy of the paper, but this should not take the place of your report.

Should you choose a good paper or a bad paper to review? Either. The advantage of a good paper is that you learn more, and it's easier to tell the author nice things about their paper. The advantage of a bad paper is that it offers more of a challenge.

Titles of Papers

Final Presentations

This course will have no final. Instead, you will make a presentation in class on some topic in cosmology. You may choose to make a presentation on the same topic as your Fiske project, but the presentation should be aimed at your peers (not a general audience).

The presentation will count for 20% of your grade. I will ask each of you to rate each presentation except your own, on a scale of 0 to 10 (worthless to perfect). Your ratings will be anonymous. I remain the arbiter of the grade on presentations, but your ratings will help me reduce scatter arising from my personal subjectivity.

Presentations will take place during the last week of class, beginning on 1 May. It should be a computer presentation, in PowerPoint, or OpenOffice, or html, or pdf, whatever your preference is.

Please email me the title of your presentation no later than 21 Apr. Include in the email a link to a (possibly not yet final) version of your presentation. Titles and links will be published on this page.

Final Presentations

 2MASS JHK image of the Milky Way, superimposed against CMB fluctuations from WMAP Spring 2006 ASTR 5770 Homepage

syllabus | timetable | reports | project | problems | diagrams | links | text

Updated 10 May 2006