PHYS 1600 Chapter Notes - Chapter 18: Recessional Velocity, Cosmological Constant, Redshift
21 Dec 2015
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The universe consists of all matter, energy and spacetime that we can ever detect or will ever be able to affect us. Cosmology is the study of the large-scale structure and evolution of the universe. 18-1 general relativity predicts an expanding (or contracting) universe. Einstein doubted his general relativity equations b/c he believed in a static universe that had existed forever o. He added a repulsive (outward-pushing) term, called the cosmological constant to his equations so that gravity"s normal attractive force would be counterbalanced and the universe would be static. Observations indicate that the universe is not just expanding but accelerating. Must be an outward pressure that more than counteracts the effects of outward o normal gravitation spacetime. 18-2 the expansion of the universe creates a dopplerlike redshift. The redshifts of clusters and superclusters moving away from us appear to be produced by the doppler effect, but it is not.
