The measurement of q0

• If objects are observed at large distances of

known brightness (standard candles), we can
measure the amount of deceleration since this
governs the size of the universe
• At z=0.5 (d=6000 Mpc), difference in observed
brightness of a “standard candle” between a flat
matter-filled universe and an empty matter-filled
universe is 25% - universe will be larger if it is
empty and thus the objects will be further away
and fainter.
• Best standard candle is Type Ia supernova
• Observed scatter in their intrinsic brightness is 15% and
thus if we could measure their brightness at z=0.5, we
could measure q0
• Two research groups obtained large amounts of
telescope time to do this and they detected 42 Type Ia
SNe up to z=0.8.
• Their results published in 1998 showed that the distant
SNe are 25% dimmer than nearby SNe.
• This means that over the 8 billion years that the light has
been travelling towards us, the change in the rate of
expansion of the the universe must have increased not
decreased.
• The universe is accelerating!
The only way to explain these results is to
introduce the cosmological constant 

Best model fit to the changing

apparent brightness mB with
redshift z gives (for k=0)
(matter)=0.25+/-0.09 at the
current epoch; and thus
=0.75.
 An image of the Universe
at 380,000 years old

The CMB
(Cosmic Microwave Background)
The History of the Universe

Universe is hot
Electrons are free
Light scatters off electrons

Until ~380,000 years after BB

Universe is cooler
e- and p+ form hydrogen
Light travels freely
 Why Microwave?
• Universe was ~ 3000° K at 380,000 yr
• Full of visible light (~1μm)

Universe is expanding

• Causes light to change wavelength

• Visible light becomes microwaves (~1cm)
Graphic from WMAP website
 The History of CMB observations

1965 Discovery

Graphic from WMAP website

1992 COBE

2003 WMAP
COBE RESULTS
COBE angular resolution ~ 10 deg
frequency spectrum

T=3.725+/-0.001 K
BOOMERANG

LAUNCH IN EARLY 2000

BOOMERANG mapped 2.5% of
the sky at a resolution 35 x COBE
April 2000: BOOMERANG map of the CMB fluctuations
Measurement of the peak-to-peak spacing of the anisotropies shows that they
have scales of ~ 1 degree. This corresponds to 0.88 < Omega < 1.12,
indicating the universe is very close to having a flat geometry.
BOOMERANG power spectrum - Fourier transform of the data, showing
that the angular scale is close to 1 degree.
Combination of Supernovae and
BOOMERANG results
 The WMAP Satellite

Graphic from WMAP website

WMAP=Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
Launch June 2001
What WMAP saw

Graphic from WMAP website

Zooming the colour scale…
1 in 1000

Graphic from WMAP website

Removing the effect of our motion
through the galaxy

Graphic from WMAP website

An image of the Universe
at 380,000 years old!

Graphics from WMAP website

A characteristic scale
exists of ~ 1 degree

Graphics from WMAP website

 Statistical
properties
• Spherical harmonic
transform
• ~Fourier transform
• Quantifies
clumpiness on
different scales