Strong dynamics constitutes one of the pillars of the standard model of particle interactions, and it accounts for the bulk of the visible matter in the universe made by ordinary protons and neutrons. It is therefore a well posed question to ask if the rest of the universe can be described in terms of new highly natural four-dimensional strongly coupled theories. The main goal of this lecture-based primer is to provide a coherent overview of how new strong dynamics can be employed to address the relevant challenges in particle physics and cosmology from composite Higgs dynamics to dark matter and inflation. We will first introduce the topic of dynamical breaking of the electroweak symmetry also known as technicolor. The knowledge of the phase diagram of strongly coupled theories plays a fundamental role when trying to construct viable extensions of the standard model. Therefore we present the state-of-the-art of the phase diagram for gauge theories as function of the number of colors, flavors, matter representation and gauge group. Recent extensions of the standard model featuring minimal technicolor theories are then introduced as relevant examples. We finally show how technicolor or in general new strongly coupled theories can lead to natural candidates of composite dark matter and inflation.

Our understanding of the universe has been revolutionized by observations of the cosmic microwave background, the large-scale structure of the universe, and distant supernovae. These studies have shown that we are living in a strange universe: 96% of the present day energy density of the universe is dominated by so-called dark matter and dark energy. But we still do not know what dark matter and dark energy actually are. This book presents lectures from the 186th Course in the Enrico Fermi International School of Physics entitled New Horizons for Observational Cosmology, held in Varenna, Italy, in July 2013. Topics covered at this school included: cosmic microwave background anisotropies; galaxy clustering; weak lensing; dark energy; dark matter; inflation; modified gravity; neutrino physics; reionization; galaxy formation; and first stars. The anticipated release of Planck data at the end of 2014 will provide a more complete view of temperature anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background, and the reporting of other important results is also expected soon. These new data will undoubtedly address fundamental questions about the universe. This book prepares the ground for future work which may answer some of these exciting questions.

There are fundamental relations between three vast areas of physics: particle physics, cosmology and condensed matter physics. The fundamental links between the first two areas, in other words, between micro- and macro- worlds, have been well established. There is a unified system of laws governing the scales from subatomic particles to the Cosmos and this principle is widely exploited in the description of the physics of the early Universe. The main goal of this book is to establish and define the connection of these two fields with condensed matter physics. According to the modern view, elementary particles (electrons, neutrinos, quarks, etc.) are excitations of a more fundamental medium called the quantum vacuum. This is the new 'aether' of the 21st Century. Electromagnetism, gravity, and the fields transferring weak and strong interactions all represent different types of the collective motion of the quantum vacuum. Among the existing condensed matter systems, a quantum liquid called superfluid 3He-A most closely represents the quantum vacuum. Its quasiparticles are very similar to the elementary particles, while the collective modes of the liquid are very similar to electromagnetic and gravitational fields, and the quanta of these collective modes are analogues of photons and gravitons. The fundamental laws of physics, such as the laws of relativity (Lorentz invariance) and gauge invariance, arise when the temperature of the quantum liquid decreases. This book is written for graduate students and researchers in all areas of physics.

The past twenty years have seen a number of breakthroughs in astrophysics and cosmology, some of which have been awarded Nobel prizes. These physics triumphs highlight the fact that while students need a solid grounding in the fundamentals of astrophysics and cosmology, sight of the basics of the fundamental interactions in physics must not be lost. This book presents papers based on lectures given at the 200th Course of the International School of Physics “Enrico Fermi”, on Gravitation and Cosmology, held in Varenna, Italy, from 3 - 12 July 2017. The aim of the school was to expose students to state-of-the-art research in the field of gravitational waves and cosmology, from both a theoretical and experimental point of view. Lectures were organized in such a way as to foster interaction between the two communities, and a wide range of topics was addressed. In the gravitational waves section, topics covered include experimental issues connected with gravitational wave detection and the new field of multi-messenger astronomy, as well as more astrophysical aspects. In the section on cosmology, there are contributions on the early universe, on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and on redshift surveys. Other areas covered include a review of inflationary scenarios; the non-Gaussian features of primordial density fluctuations; and the physical mechanisms responsible for the spectral distortions of the blackbody spectrum of the CMB. The book provides an overview of important research developments and will be of interest to all students of gravitation and cosmology.

This book introduces the basic concepts of particle cosmology and covers all the main aspects of the Big Bang Model (expansion of the Universe, Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, Cosmic Microwave Background, large scale structures) and the search for new physics (inflation, baryogenesis, dark matter, dark energy). It also includes the majority of recent discoveries, such as the precise determination of cosmological parameters using experiments like WMAP and Planck, the discovery of the Higgs boson at LHC, the non-discovery to date of supersymmetric particles, and the search for the imprint of gravitational waves on the CMB polarization by Planck and BICEP. This textbook is based on the authors’ courses on Cosmology, and aims at introducing Particle Cosmology to senior undergraduate and graduate students. It has been especially written to be accessible even for those students who do not have a strong background in General Relativity and quantum field theory. The content of this book is organized in an easy-to-use style and students will find it a helpful research guide.