PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Astronomy vs. Astrology

Empirical evidence beliefs and interpretation

Astronomy vs. Cosmology

Physical Science vs. Physics

Non-living matter, energy, forces
A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST
 started as an infinitely hot and dense single point
that inflated and stretched
(from unimaginable speed to measurable rate),
expanding until now and cooling

What pushes the universe to expand at an accelerating rate?

As the galaxies move away from one another, what retains their shape
and keeps them from spreading apart internally?
EVIDENCE
❑ CMB first predicted by Ralph Tyler and others
(1948)

❑ Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, Robert Dicke

(1965)
DOPPLER EFFECT
- the increase (or decrease) in the frequency of sound, light, or
other waves as the source and observer move towards or away
from one another
 Light from distant galaxies was shifted toward
lower frequencies to the red end of the spectrum
when stars or galaxies are moving away from us;
we see their color as red-shifted

EDWIN HUBBLE
DOPPLER EFFECT
- the increase (or decrease) in the frequency of sound, light, or
other waves as the source and observer move towards or away
from one another
FORMATION OF ELEMENTS
• What are the
assumptions of the Big
Bang theory?
• How will the universe
end?
• Is Big Bang just a proof
of a multiverse?
The entire picture of what we know nowadays, the whole history
of the Universe, is what I call one ‘aeon’ in a succession of
aeons – Roger Penrose

“Our Big Bang might be the rebirth of one single quantum

multiverse, containing infinitely many different universes all
occurring together.”
• What are the
assumptions of the Big
Bang theory?
• How will the universe
end?
• Is Big Bang just a proof
of a multiverse?
• What existed before
Big Bang?
• How were the elements
formed after Big
Bang?
BIG BANG KEY PRINCIPLES:
1. Big Bang is the expansion of space.
2. As the universe expands, it cools.
3. The more energetic the particles are, the
higher temperature it will be.
4. The identity of an element is determined
based on the number of protons it contains.
What existed before Big Bang?
“The first long-lived matter particles of any kind were
protons and neutrons, which together make up the
atomic nucleus. These came into existence around
one ten-thousandth of a second after the Big Bang.
Before that point, there was really no material in any
familiar sense of the word.”
-Wilson A., 2022
FORMATION OF ELEMENTS
quarks hadrons
protons &
neutrons
quarks
-the ground floor of the Standard Model
of particle physics
-elementary particle and a fundamental
constituent of matter

gauge bosons force carriers (mediators)

leptons best known is electrons

quarks hadrons
protons &
neutrons
quarks
-the ground floor of the Standard Model
of particle physics
-elementary particle and a fundamental
constituent of matter

BIG BANG NUCLEOSYNTHESIS

process of creating new atomic nuclei from pre-
existing nucleons primarily protons and neutrons
BIG BANG KEY PRINCIPLES:
1. Big Bang is the expansion of space.
2. As the universe expands, it cools.
3. The more energetic the particles are, the
higher temperature it will be.
4. The identity of an element is determined
based on the number of protons it contains.
P N =
deuteron
BIG BANG KEY PRINCIPLES:
1. Big Bang is the expansion of space.
2. As the universe expands, it cools.
3. The more energetic the particles are, the
higher temperature it will be.
4. The identity of an element is determined
based on the number of protons it contains.
 P N =
Deuteron/deuterium

ISOTOPE
2
1H
 P N =
Deuteron/ deuterium

+ N =
Deuteron/deuterium H
3
1 Triton/Tritium
BIG BANG KEY PRINCIPLES:
1. Big Bang is the expansion of space.
2. As the universe expands, it cools.
3. The more energetic the particles are, the
higher temperature it will be.
4. The identity of an element is determined
based on the number of protons it contains.
STELLAR NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
process by which elements are formed within
the stars as a result of a nuclear fusion

NUCLEAR FUSION
process by which multiple nuclei combine to
form heavier elements
MAIN BRANCH PROTON-PROTON CHAIN
 TRIPLE ALPHA PROCESS
He
4
2
 CARBON FUSION CYCLE
Alpha ladder
How are other elements
heavier than Fe created?