CLASS MANUAL
Where to find information and documentation on CLASS?

Author: Julien Lesgourgues

  • For what the code can actually compute: all possible input parameters, all coded cosmological models, all functionalities, all observables, etc.: read the file explanatory.ini in the main CLASS directory: it is THE reference file where we keep track of all possible input and the definition of all input parameters. For that reason we recommend to leave it always unchanged and to work with copies of it, or with short input files written from scratch.
  • For the structure, style, and concrete aspects of the code: this documentation, especially the CLASS overview chapter (the extensive automatically-generated part of this documentation is more for advanced users); plus the slides of our CLASS lectures, for instance those from Tokyo 2014 available at

    http://lesgourg.github.io/class-tour-Tokyo.html

    or the more recent and concise summary from the Narbonne 2016 lecture available at

    http://lesgourg.github.io/class-tour/Narbonne.pdf

    An updated overview of available CLASS lecture slides is always available at

    http://lesgourg.github.io/courses.html

    in the section Courses on numerical tools.

  • For the python wrapper of CLASS: at the moment, the best are the last slides (pages 75-96) of the Narbonne 2016 lectures

    http://lesgourg.github.io/class-tour/Narbonne.pdf

    Later we will expand the wrapper documentation with a dedicated chapter here.

  • For the physics and equations used in the code: mainly, the following papers:

    • Cosmological perturbation theory in the synchronous and conformal Newtonian gauges

      C. P. Ma and E. Bertschinger.

      http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9506072

      10.1086/176550

      Astrophys. J. 455, 7 (1995)

    • The Cosmic Linear Anisotropy Solving System (CLASS) II: Approximation schemes

      D. Blas, J. Lesgourgues and T. Tram.

      http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.2933 [astro-ph.CO]

      10.1088/1475-7516/2011/07/034

      JCAP 1107, 034 (2011)

    • The Cosmic Linear Anisotropy Solving System (CLASS) IV: efficient implementation of non-cold relics

      J. Lesgourgues and T. Tram.

      http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.2935 [astro-ph.CO]

      10.1088/1475-7516/2011/09/032

      JCAP 1109, 032 (2011)

    • Optimal polarisation equations in FLRW universes

      T. Tram and J. Lesgourgues.

      http://arxiv.org/abs/1305.3261 [astro-ph.CO]

      10.1088/1475-7516/2013/10/002

      JCAP 1310, 002 (2013)

    • Fast and accurate CMB computations in non-flat FLRW universes

      J. Lesgourgues and T. Tram.

      http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.2697 [astro-ph.CO]

      10.1088/1475-7516/2014/09/032

      JCAP 1409, no. 09, 032 (2014)

    • The CLASSgal code for Relativistic Cosmological Large Scale Structure

      E. Di Dio, F. Montanari, J. Lesgourgues and R. Durrer.

      http://arxiv.org/abs/1307.1459 [astro-ph.CO]

      10.1088/1475-7516/2013/11/044

      JCAP 1311, 044 (2013)

    plus also some latex notes on specific sectors: