PCS 181 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, Cosmic Background Explorer, Planck Units
Document Summary
Shape of the universe, and it"s eventual fate. The real universe has no edge and no centre. The big bang theory is well understood: theory is plausible and can be tested multiple times. Before 380,00 years (era of nuclei) the universe was too hot, too small and too dense. The particle era can be replicated in experiments. The 1st billion years (after the big bang): the dark age. Atoms only have room to exist 380,000 years after the big bang: there was no light, no atoms because it was too hot and dense, after 380,000 years, the universe was born with hydrogen and helium. Science requires no belief it is all about answering questions that can be verifiable. Only understanding: can be falsified: we only have to find a single star that is older than 14 billion years to dismiss the big bang theory.
