Crash Course on Cosmology
statements is ALWAYS
How did the Universe come into being?
Cosmology
-Study of the cosmos and its evolution
-Large scale structure of the universe
The universe
-Very large
-Expanding
-it is very old, but it did not exist from the
beginning
Modelling the Universe
Recall:
-Ancient Greeks: Earth is at the center of the
universe
-Copernicus: The earth is not at the center of
the solar system (but was also wrong in saying
that the sun is at the center of the universe)
Copernican Principle
-the earth does not hold a special place in the
universe
Cosmological Principles
-Isotropy of universe at large scales (in any
direction, the universe will look the same)
 Same density of galaxies in all directions
-Homogeneity of universe at large scales
 same galaxy density at every spatial location
In other words…
-Isotropy – Same in one direction as in any
other
-Homogeneity – same in one place as in any
other
Q1: Which of the ff.
correct?
1. Homogeneity implies with isotropy, but
not the converse
2. Isotropy implies homogeneity, but not
the converse
3. Homogeneity implies isotropy, and the
converse is also true
4. Homogeneity does not necessarily
imply isotropy, and so it the converse
The universe is both homogenous and
isotropic
How did we know that the Universe is very
large?
Edwin Hubble
-1889-1953
-American astronomer
-Key figure in observational cosmology
Before, scientists thought that the Milky Way
Galaxy made up the whole universe.
-1923 – using the 100-inch Hooker telescope at
Mt. Wilson, he discovered stars comprise the
then Andromeda “nebula”
-nebula = glowing gas
-ended the debate on the nature of “spiral
nebulae”
-competing ideas on “spiral nebulae”
 Spiral nebulae can’t be far away since they
glow very brightly
 Spiral nebulae are actually very far away.
They only appear like clouds of glowing gas,
but are actually composed of stars
Reckoning astrophysical distances
-Triangulation
-Use of standard candles
Distance units -Deduced that Cepheids in Andromeda are very
very far away
-1 astronomical unit (1 AU)
SO the Universe is very large!
 mean distance of Earth from Sun
How did we know that the universe is
 1.50 x 10^11 m
EXPANDING?
 Light travels 8.3 mins from Sun to Earth
Vesto Melvin Slipher
-1 light year (1 ly)
-Astronomer, Lowell Observatory, Arizona
-1 parsec
-1912: observed spectral lines from light
Triangulation
emitted by spiral nebulae
-Parallax angle
Spectral Lines
 But this is accurate only for distances within
-Two types:
100 parsecs (When very far away, parallax angle
becomes very small) 1. Emission

Use of standard candles 2. Absorption

-Technique for determining distances beyond
the limit of triangulation
-Idea: distances can be inferred from apparent
brightness (not as straightforward)
From spectral lines of hydrogen of 2 galazies,
Slipher concluded that the shift in spectral lines
was caused by the Doppler Effect
Relativistic Doppler Effect

-Standard candles = objects with known -Relative motion between light source and
luminosities observer results to a change in perceived color

-ex. Of standard candles -ex. Closer (blueshifted); Farther (redshifted)

 Main sequence stars -Greater redshift = greater recession speed

 Cepheid variable stars Vesto Melvin Slipher

 Type 1a supernova
-13 out of 15 nebulae  redshifted spectral
Use of standard candles lines

-A and B are the same type of stars -Does this make sense?

-A is dimmer than B Edwin Hubble

-Conclusion: A is farther than B -1929: With the help of Milton Humanson, they
looked at far away galaxies using the Mt Wilson
Edwin Hubble
telescope
-Observed Cepheid stars in the Andromeda
-Spectroscopic data  Galaxies are receding
Galaxy
from us
-Used nearby Cepheids in the Milky Way as
-Farther galaxies recede faster
reference objects
Hubble’s Law: v = Hod
 Recession speed of galaxies is directly
proportional to the distance
Edwin Hubble
-Inference 1: The universe must have started
out from a violent explosion  Big Bang
-Inference 2: The universe is expanding
The Universe is expanding!
 Recap: Spectral lines are redshifted
 Hubble’s Law
Universe estimated to be 14 Billion yrs old.
How did we know that the universe is VERY
OLD, but has not existed forever?
 There must be a beginning to time
Did it all start with a Big Bang?
Theoretical Models
 Static Universe (Einstein)
 Expanding universe with initial singularity
(Friedmann, Lemaitre) // Big Bang
 Steady State Theory (Jeans, Bondi, Gold,
Hoyle)
Albert Einstein
 1915: published general theory of relativity
 1917: proposal for a static universe
 Cosmological Considerations in the General
Theory of Relativity
Einstein’s Blunder
 Cosmological constant
o Necessary to prevent collapse of
the universe
o Keeps energy density constant
Arthur Eddington
 British astronomer
 Observed gravitational bending of light in
1919
 Static universe + Positive cosmological
constant = Unstable
Alexander Friedmann and Georges Lemaitre
 Friedmann: Curvature of Space
 Lemaitre: Homogeneous universe of
constant mass and growing radius acct for
the radial velocity of extragalactic nebulae
Georges Lemaitre
 Einstein’s general relativity  theory of an
expanding universe
 Theory of the primeval atom  Cosmic Egg
(from which everything started)
 Derived what is later to be known as
Hubble’s Law (from theoretical
considerations)
*Even if confirmed, not sure if true
Steady State Theory
 Fred Hoyle, Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold
 Universe is expanding
Recall: Cosmological Principles
In Steady State Theory
 Perfect Cosmological Principle: Isotropy +
Homogeneity for all eternity
 i.e. Universe stays the same
 We want to maintain the density and
matter of universe
o Continuous creation of matter
Fred Hoyle
 Critical of Big Bang Theory
o Where did it start and who created
it?
*The Universe has constant matter density for
all eternity
BIG BANG VS STEADY STATE
Karl Popper
 Key figure in philosophy of science
 “It is easy to obtain confirmations, or
verifications, for nearly every theory – if we
look for confirmations”
 “Every genuine test of a theory is an
attempt to falsify it, or to refute it.
Testability is falsifiability.”
Rule out other theories
Martin Ryle
 British radio astronomer
 Pioneer in radio astronomy
 Nobel Prize in Physics (1974)
 Discovery of extragalactic radio sources
 Got a lot of radio sources and most sources
emitted very weak signals
o Most of the sources are very far
away from us
o Did not stay the same forever??
(more sources in the past than in
present)
o Casts doubt on Steady State
How did the elements come to be?
George Gamow
 Soviet physicist
 Student of Alexander Friedmann
 Defected to the US
 How are the chemical elements formed?
 Hypothesis: at the beginning, there was a
primordial soup made up of electrons,
protons, and neutrons  Ylem (primordial
plasma)
o Other elements by Nuclear Fusion
(smash together two nuclides?)
o o Background noise was present no
Nuclear Fusion
 Typically requires very high temperature
 Gamow: Big Bang must be very hot
George Gamow
 Primordial soup of subatomic particles
 Nuclear fusion: formation of heavier
elements
 Light radiation (…)
Light bounces off the protons and electrons
Light is trapped
As the Universe cooled down, protons and
electrons to form H atoms combined to form H
atoms
Light can now escape
Photon decoupling
Ralph Alpher and Robert Heman
 5K
 There must be leftover radiation from the
Big Bang
 Cosmic Microwave Bang (CMB)
But Gamow’s nucleosynthesis theory was
incomplete…
 No stable nuclide for A=5 or A=8
Ex. Beryllium – 8
 Missing piece: Stellar nucleosynthesis
IT WAS VERY HOT AT THE BEGINNING
Where is the fossil?
Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Allan Penzias
(1993)
 Horn Antenna: obtain microwave signals
bounced off Echo 2 Communications
Satellite (Part of project Echo)
o Problem: Hissing sound (ALIENS)
matter how they orient the receiver
 Was actually the leftover
radiation from Big Bang (3.5
K) (ALIENS ALIENS ALEINS
ALIENS)
We accept the Big Bang Theory!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rashid Sunyaev

Accdg to the Blackbody Radiation Curve,  Fluctuations of the microwave background

radiation
 Longer wavelength = lower temperature
Space-based anisotropy measurements
Gamow, Alpher, Herman
 RELIKT -1
 Predicted temperature: 5 K
o Soviet project launched on July
 Explained how hydrogen and helium were
1983
produced
o Aimed to measure anisotropy in
 Failed to account for formation of heavier
CMB
elements
o 0.01% fluctuation
o Proper explanation: Stellar
 Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)
nucleosynthesis
o 1989-1993
Dicke, Roll, Peebles, Wilkinson o Made up of Diffuse Infrared
Background Experiment, Far
 Re-derived the CMB prediction Infrared Absolute
 Overlooked the work of Gamow, Alpher, spectrophotometer, Microwave
and Herman Radiometer
 Set out to construct radio antenna o Faced away from the sun
Doroshkevich, Novikov o Must filter out radiation coming
from cosmic dust as well
 First paper that recognized the o Results
discoverability of leftover radiation  CMB is indeed a form of
Penzias, Wilson thermal radiation
 CMB has anisotropies
 Nobel prize for discovering radiation o Nobel Prize in Physics to John
Mather and George Smoot
Stephen Hawking
 Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
 But the final nail in the coffin of the Steady (WMAP)
State theory came with the discovery of the o Results
microwave background radiation, 1965…  Anisotropies (high degree
There doesn’t seem any way to explain this of accuracy)
radiation in the Steady State theory  Supports Inflation Theory
 Universe some time
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
in its evolution
 Without fluctuations in local density, no experienced a
structure formation dramatic expansion
 No galaxy cluters, etc.  Mechanism for
 Fluctuations in local density  fluctuations fluctuations
in CMB temperature  Age of universe = 13.77
billion years old
Joseph Silk
 Only 4% if the universe
 “The possibility is examined…” contains regular matter
(remaining composed of
 Dark Energy and Dark
Matter)
The UNIVERSE is 13.77 billion years old. Did not
exist since the beginning of time.
 Elongate image of object
 Can produce multiple images
 Some images imply existence of dark matter
What is dark matter?

 Planck spacecraft  Weakly interacting massive particles

o 1996: originally called (WIMPs)?
 COBRAS = cosmic  Sterile neutrinos?
background radiation  Axions?
anisotropy satellite  OPEN PROBLEM (ANSWER: MOST LIKELY
 SAMBA ALIENS)
o Results
Dark energy
Gist of anisotropy measurements
 Responsible for the accelerated expansion
 CMB is anisotropic of the universe
 Anisotropy is necessary for formation of
RECAP:
structures
The Universe
Fucc!!!!!!! Ang daming galaxies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 Is very large
Dark Matter
 Is expanding
 Matter that cannot be seen  Is very old but it has not existed forever
 Only interacts gravitationally  Was very hot at the beginning
 Bases (?):  Not perfectly homogeneous and isotropic
o Galaxy Rotation Curves o Anisotropy in the CMB
 As you go away from the
A Brief Timeline of EVERYTHING
center of the galaxy, the
object’s velocity should go Unresolved Problems
down to keep in motion?
 Keplerian Rotation Curve  Nature of dark matter and dark energy
 Observed velocities actually  Baryon asymmetry
taper off o Why are there more particles than
antiparticles?
 Galactic nucleus
must be more  Ultimate fate of the Universe
massive than o Big Freeze
expected!  As the universe expands,
the universe cools down
Fritz Zwicky o Big Crunch
 If gravitational attraction
 1933: examined Coma cluster
overcomes the expansion of
 Galaxies were moving too fast than
the universe forming a
expected
singularity
 Visible matter cannot acct for such stability
o Big Bounce
 Dunkie Materie = dark matter
 Quantum mechanics effects
Gravitational Lensing would prevent formation of
 singularity as universe
contracts, making it expand
again
 Origin of the Big Bang

Why study cosmology?’

 Science has 2 purposes

o To make sense of the physical world
o To provide us with practical benefits
 Because we can!!!!!!!!
 We have a long-standing problem of making
sense of the physical world
o This is actually the point of scientific
inquiry
 If we have the means to do it, why not do
it?
 Testbed for current scientific theories
 A lot of open questions need to be
addressed
 Very exciting field
 Research methodologies needed to tackle
fundamental questions usually bring about
indirect advances in technology
o Improvement in observational
techniques  better cameras
o Processing of tons of observational
data  Big data analytics
o Computer simulations  Better
algorithms

EVERYTHING WE WERE, EVERYTHING WE ARE

AND EVERYTHING WE WILL BE == ON A MOTE
OF DUST SUSPENDED IN A SUNBEAM