PHYS 475Cosmology
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Science
- Subject
- Physics
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 2 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Robertson-Walker metric and Friedmann equations. Observational cosmology. Dark matter and dark energy. Gravitational lensing. Big Bang nucleosynthesis, the cosmic microwave background. Inflation. Structure formation.
Prerequisites
- Complete all of the following
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Winter 2027 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 7405 | 0 / 80 | MW 13:00–14:20 |
| LEC 701 | 8265 | 46 / 9999 | Online or by arrangement |
Reviewed on UW Flow
55% liked it32% easy58% useful
From 11 ratings and 2 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
Our cohort had a strange experience - our instructor switched halfway through the term from a postdoc to Percival. Everyone bombed the midterm since we were not well prepared in content, but the final after lectures with percival were better. You get lost in lectures pretty easily due to the nature of the content - it's all crazy derivations and fun facts but the final exam is nothing like them, it's essentially 3 really simple questions reworded in a bajillion ways.
Dec 2025 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this
Followed Barbara Ryden's Cosmology text closely. Only thing I disliked was the final exam was very heavy on the side of observational cosmology, but others' experience may vary. Interesting course!
Jan 2018 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
14 posts and comments in 12 threads mention PHYS 475, September 2015 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Winter 2023
What’s been your easiest and hardest year so far? 10 points, 16 comments
u/TheRealArjun: “… CS 436, CS 467, ECE 459, PMATH 332 4A - ECE 222, ECE 351, PHYS 434, PHYS 442, PHYS 454, PHYS 475 WT5 - ECE 350, ECE 454, Coop 5 4B is looking bad and its only been one month...”
Spring 2022
Mathematical physics Course blueprint recommendations 3 points, 21 comments
“Hey everyone, I’m going into the mathematical physics program at Waterloo next year and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on a sort of blueprint I could follow for courses because …”
u/Yu-Li: “… coop PHYS 342 3B Fall AMATH 473 AMATH 351 PMATH 347 PHYS 442 (get override request) PHYS 475 (get override request) / PHYS 468 Change coop sequence 4A winter: AMATH 474 PMATH 863 AMATH 475 PHYS 359 One more physics course you like (I would choose from quantum computing/ …”
Fall 2020
Easiest 4th Year Phys courses? 8 points, 5 comments
“help a brother out (your top 3 pls)”
u/Island_Man89: “… Phys475 - Cosmology: was difficult but got curved super hard when I took it. I have forgotten the profs name. (If I remember I’ll edit) 2. Phys476 - Intro to GR: I had Eduardo Martinez. Assignments were very difficult but doable and we were allowed groups. …”
Spring 2020
Fuck this bird course bullshit: what is the theoretical hardest term you could do? 49 points, 27 comments
“You're limited to a maximum of 5 classes, you're only allowed to do courses that would be allowed for the program/major you pick. …”
u/cabbagemeister: “My upcoming year will be pretty tough: Fall: PHYS442 (Electricity and Magnetism 3), PHYS437A (Honours Research Project), PHYS475 (Cosmology), PMATH945 (Clifford Algebras, Spinors, and Calibrations), AMATH473 (Quantum Theory 2) Winter: PHYS444 (Intro Particle Physics) PHYS476 …”
Fall 2019
PHYS 475 crying thread 13 points, 21 comments
Winter 2018
What’s the useful/interesting course you’ve taken? 5 points, 27 comments
“Have lots of elective room next term — I find that taking bird electives means I’m never all that interested and actually do worse than challenging courses. …”
u/kw2002: “PHYS 475 was probably the most interesting but least useful”
Fall 2017
Math 115 - "PUT YOUR KNAPSACKS AWAY!!!???!?!?!?" 57 points, 25 comments
“"What the fuck did you just fucking say to me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in Waterloo, and I've been involved in numerous research papers on matrix …”
u/kw2002: “Matrices are all fun and games -- until they're tensor calculus. Also don't take PHYS 475 even if they let you in.”
u/Kakateo: “What's wrong with PHYS 475? :o”
Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments
“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”
u/Jackhofmann: “PSYCH 483 PSYCH 484 PSYCH 485 PSYCH 486 PSYCH 490R PSYCH 499A PSYCH 499B PSYCH 499C PSYCH 621 PSYCH 630 PSYCH 677A PSYCH 704A PSYCH 704B PSYCH 707 PSYCH 710 PSYCH 714 PSYCH 717 PSYCH 720A PSYCH 721A …”
u/Jackhofmann: “… 380 PHYS 434 PHYS 437A PHYS 437B PHYS 442 PHYS 454 PHYS 460A PHYS 460B PHYS 461 PHYS 474 PHYS 475 PHYS 490 PHYS 491 PHYS 601 PHYS 602 PHYS 603 PHYS 604 PHYS 605 PHYS 611 PHYS 701 PHYS 704 PHYS 709 PHYS 767 PHYS 768 PHYS 771 PHYS 777 PHYS 781 PHYS 786 PHYS 788 PLAN 100 PLAN 102 …”
Spring 2017
What courses are you taking this fall? 28 points, 129 comments
“With course selection and add/drop happening this week I figured this would be a cool discussion post. …”
u/Kakateo: “ENGL 108D - Digital Lives STAT 231 - Statistics PHYS 475 - Cosmology AMATH 453 - PDEs 2 AMATH 456 - Calculus of Variations PMATH 347 - Groups and Rings We'll see how this goes...”
Fall 2016
When you're in undergrad but your prof is a researcher at Perimeter 70 points, 26 comments
u/MC4044: “Which prof?”
u/jonhayes37: “Afshordi for PHYS 475”
It turns out grading schemes get better in 4th year (PHYS 475) 49 points, 16 comments
u/jumpp14: “phys 375 has the same scheme”
u/jonhayes37: “Huh, weird. This prof is Niayesh Afshordi, and I think he's never taught PHYS 475 before. I'm hoping he goes easier on us that Broderick!”
Fall 2015
Upper year physics syllabi and course material 7 points, 2 comments
u/phyzled: “… Mechanics - PHYS 370L Astronomy Laboratory - PHYS 375 Stars - PHYS 474 Galaxies - PHYS 475 Cosmology - PHYS 335 Condensed Matter Physics - PHYS 360A/B Modern Physics Laboratory - PHYS 392 Scientific Measurement and Control - PHYS 444 Introduction to Particle Physics - PHYS …”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
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