Lecture 12
The Big Bang and Cosmology

A day without a yesterday.

-Georges Lemaitre

Evidence from Past

Review Hubble's Law from previous lecture

 

Microwave background

• background static (local file)
• fits 3K Blackbody curve (Chaisson Fig 26-17 )
• COBE and WMAP

 

Particle Physics

What is possible is compulsory.

-Stanley Deser

 

Au-Au collision (mov)

Bubble chamber view of particle creation (Brookhaven, CERN)

Baryon particle table

Fundamental particle table

 

Big Bang

A day without a yesterday... primeval atom

-Georges Lemaitre

 

Order we see arises from cooling of hot Big Bang (e.g., cooling water gives rise to order of snowflake)

Chaisson Big Bang summary Fig 27-5 (know radiation era, matter era).
Also Chaisson Fig.27.1 and Table.27.1

NASA Big Bang summary

Apocryphal Big Bang summary

Reading/Bibliography

Chaisson text:

• Chapter 26 (all)
• Chapter 27 (sections 1, 2)

NASA's WMAP Cosmology 101 page

C.R. Nave's HyperPhysics has all physics topics, including quarks

CERN's bubble chambers

Physics Factbook (for you number lovers)

 

Document URL: http://www.uh.edu/~jclarage/astr3131/lectures/12/12.html