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Newtons Error
If universe is as how Newton describes,
then why is the sky dark at night?
Olbers Paradox
If space goes on forever with stars
scattered randomly throughout, then in
any line of sight in any direction will
eventually run into a star.
Using this logic, the sky should be the
average brightness of all of these stars;
the sky should be as bright as the sun,
even at night.
Einsteins Relativity
Einstein overturned part of Newtons
theory with his theories of special and
general relativity - time and space were
indeed related, as were the objects
existing within them.
Special Relativity
Time and Space and their rates are
intertwined and depend on the motion of
the observer (1905).
General Relativity
Gravity bends the fabric of space time the matter that occupies the universe
influences the overall shape of space
and the rate of time (1916).
Cosmological Constant
Represents the pressure that allows the
universes expansion to directly balance
gravitational collapse due to the objects
existing within the universe, thus yielding a
static universe.
Without this idea of a cosmological
constant, Einstein couldve been the first to
predict that the universe is not static.
Hubbles Discovery
Edwin Hubbles
observations of remote
galaxies, and the
redshift of their spectral
lines (1924).
Hubble noticed that the
further away the galaxy,
the greater the redshift
of its spectral lines.
This linear relationship
is called Hubbles Law.
http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect20/A9.html
Redshift
The wavelengths of
the light emitted by
distant objects is
elongated as it
travels to earth.
Longer the light
travels, the more it
gets redshifted.
http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect20/A9.html
Hubbles Law
v = H0d
v = recessional velocity of the galaxy
H0 = Hubble constant
D = distance of galaxy to earth
Galaxies are getting farther apart as time
progresses, therefore the universe is
expanding.
Hubbles Constant
Expansion rate measured using Type
1A Supernovae.
The age of the universe can be derived
from Hubbles constant:
T0 = d T0 = 1
H 0d
H0
Age of Universe
Currently, after taking into account
differences in expansion rate over time
and our movement through space:
T0 ~ 13.7 0.2 byo
Age of stars: ~13.4 byo 6%
Therefore, oldest stars are younger than
the age of universe.
Center of Universe?
There is NO CENTER to the universe
Expansion looks the same regardless of
where you are in the universe.
Every point appears to be the center of the
expansion, therefore no point is the center.
The universe is infinite.
Lookback Time
The degree of
cosmological redshift
tells you how far into
past you are seeing the
object due to the finite
speed of light; this value
is called Lookback time.
However, these values
are not always certain
because of the
expansion of universe
was not always
constant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hubble_ultra_deep_field_high_rez_edit1.jpg
QuickTime an d a
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Observable Universe
Olbers Paradox is solved:
due to the finite speed of
light, the observable
universe does not include
the entire universe.
Radius of the observable
universe depends on the age
of the universe and the
speed of light: ~47 billion
lightyears.
Result: Sky is dark at night
with points of light (stars,
galaxies, etc.) scattered
throughout.
CMB Radiation
Detection of this radiation, called
Cosmic Microwave Background
radiation, won Penzias and Wilson the
Nobel Prize for Physics in 1978.
CMB radiation can be detected by your
tv as well - 1% of static seen on a
channel that your tv doesnt receive is
from the birth of the universe.
CMB Radiation
Intensity of CMB Radiation reveals origins of universe.
However, difficult to detect intensity from Earth- the
atmosphere is opaque to wavelengths 10 m to 1 cm (CMB
~ 1 mm).
CMB Radiation
QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompre ssor
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Radiation appears to be
mostly smooth, but there are
slight variations in
temperature that show that
matter had started to clump
in the early universe clumps of matter formed the
galaxies and stars see
today.
Sound waves in early
universe are recorded in this
radiation; by studying the
characteristics of these
sound waves, we can find
out about the conditions of
the early universe.
http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~afrank/A105/LectureXVI/LectureXVI.html
Horizon Problem
Despite all of the success with the Big Bang
Theory so far, the horizon problem was still
yet to be solved.
The temperature of the CMB radiation was the ~same no
matter where you look in the sky, indicating that some how
information linking all parts of the sky was traveling faster
than the speed of light.
Also, information from one side of the sky at 100,000 years
old (horizon is 100,000 light years in diameter) differed from
the other side of the sky by 10 million light years - 100 times
the diameter of the horizon.
Inflation Theory
Alan Guth (1970s) had a solution:
The universe must have expanded
exponentially very early for a short period
of time.
This would account for the clumping of
matter.
Extent of Inflation
Today, evidence and theory show that:
At T = 10-35 sec, universe d = 10-24 cm
Between T = 10-35 sec and T = 10-32
sec, the universe expanded
exponentially by a factor of 1050..
For the briefest moment, the universe
expanded faster than the speed of light.
Big Bang
Separation of Forces
After the Planck time, the temperature
had decreased 1032 K and gravity was
the first force to separate.
The remaining three forces were still
united - these are the conditions that
particle physicists today try to replicate.
T = 10-6 seconds
Temperature has cooled enough for baryons
(Protons, Neutrons) to form.
Like the leptons, baryons form in pair production.
Once the temperature has decreased past the
point at which baryons can no longer be
produced, pair annihilation occurs again, leaving
a slight excess of baryons over antibaryons.
Also, at this temperature, all particles are no
longer moving relativistically, so the universe
becomes dominated by the higher energy
photons (radiation-dominated universe).
T = few minutes
Temperature ~ 1 GK, density ~ that of air.
Neutrons combine with protons making
deuterium and helium nuclei, and some
protons remain independent (hydrogen
nuclei).
Called Big Bang nucleosynthesis.
Temperature is still too high to form atoms as
they would be ionized immediately.
The universe would appear opaque during all
this time because photons and matter would
be interacting due to high temperatures.
T = 379,000 years
Universe is now cool enough that matter
energy is greater than radiative energy, thus
allowing atoms to form.
Radiation is decoupled from matter and
photons are free-streamed throughout space
- origin of CMB radiation.
This time is known as the epoch of
recombination.
Universe is now matter-dominated.
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=2103
http://startswithabang.com/?p=1724
http://www.astro.columbia.edu/~archung/labs/spring2002/lab07.html
Research Today
Today, particle accelerators such as the LHC
are trying to replicate conditions just after the
Big Bang so that we understand how the
universe formed.
Currently, all cosmic evolution after
inflationary epoch can be modeled and
described pretty accurately, but the time
before this (10-15 sec) is basically unknown;
understanding this time remains one of the
greatest mysteries in physics.
Remaining Questions
What is dark matter?
What is dark energy?
Can dark energy and matter be detected and
studied in labs?
What happened from the birth of the
universe, at the instance of the Big Bang, until
the end of the inflationary epoch?
What caused the Big Bang?
What is the ultimate fate of the universe?