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COSMOLOGY
THE BIG BANG THEORY AND
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
SCI02 LECTURE 1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• The four fundamental forces of the universe were all combined into one force, Supergravity.
THE BIG BANG
• At about 1 billionth of a second after the Big Bang, the universe was a dense sea of
quarks and other particles.
THE BIG BANG
1. Hubble’s Law
• Galaxies have been observed to be moving from the Earth at speeds that are proportional to their distance.
• Phenomenon discovered in 1929 by Edwin Hubble.
• Supports the expansion of the universe and suggests that it was once compacted.
2. Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Radiation
• 2.725 degree Kelvin background radiation in the microwave range that pervades ALL of the known universe.
• Phenomenon discovered in 1965 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson
• The CMB is the evidence of the theory’s statement that if the universe was extremely hot and extremely small at one
point in time, then there should be evidence of this extreme temperature all across the universe.
3. Abundance of Light Elements
• The sheer volume of light elements, Hydrogen and Helium in the observable universe.
• Supports the model since these are the first elements to form in the high-energy environment during and shortly after
the Big Bang.
LIGHT ELEMENT NUCLEOSYNTHESIS