The Universe

How did the universe begin?

 Some religious beliefs on the origin
of the universe
Kuba people of Central Africa
- story of the creator God Mbombo or Bumba
India
- a narrative about Purusha who was sacrificed by the Gods
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
- a supreme being created the universe
The Universe
Cosmology
- study of the evolution of the universe
Ancient ideas of the universe
Plato - heavens were perfect
- uniform circular motion

Aristotle - Earth is imperfect

- geocentric universe
Nicolaus Copernicus heliocentric theory
Three theories that explain the
beginning of the universe
1. Steady State Theory
2. Cosmic Inflation Theory
3. Big Bang Theory
Steady State Theory
the universe is always expanding

Sir James Jeans (1920)

Sir Fred Hoyle, Sir Hermann Bondi, and Thomas Gold

(1948)
Cosmic Inflation Theory
early universe was a rapidly expanding bubble of
pure vacuum energy

Allan Guth (1947) and Andrei Linde (1948)

Big Bang Theory
provides the best explanation on the origin of the
universe
cosmic microwave background (CMB)
Big Bang Theory
expansion of the universe
nucleosynthesis of the light elements
origin of the cosmic background radiation
formation of galaxies and large-scale structure
 Abb Georges
George Gamow &
Edouard Lematre
Ralph Alpher (1948)
(1927)

Albert Einstein Arthur Eddington

(1916) (1931)

Alexander
Edwin Hubble (1929)
Friedmann (1922)
Some misconceptions of the Big Bang Theory
(David Alles 2013)

Big Bang is a theory

Big Bang was an explosion
 Structure, Composition, and Age
of the Universe
4.6 % baryonic matter
24 % cold dark matter
71.4 % dark energy

H, He, Li
 Structure, Composition, and Age
of the Universe
Stars

Stellar interiors
 Structure, Composition, and Age
of the Universe
Galaxy