ASTR 170: Introduction to Cosmology

How old is the Universe?

How big is the Universe?
What is the Universe made of?

What will happen to the Universe?

What is at the edge of the Universe?

Instructor Yale University

Prof. Frank C. van den Bosch Fall Semester 2013
 What is Cosmology?

Cosmology: a branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature of the universe

a theory or doctrine describing the natural order of the universe

a branch of astronomy that deals with the origin, structure

and space-time relationships of the universe; also: a theory dealing
with these matters
From: Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Cosmology (from Greek κοσµολογία - κόσµος, kosmos, "universe"; and -λογία, -logia,
"study"), in strict usage, refers to the study of the Universe in its totality as it
now is (or at least as it can be observed now), and by extension, humanity's place
in it. Though the word cosmology is recent (first used in 1730 in Christian Wolff's
Cosmologia Generalis), the study of the universe has a long history involving
science, philosophy, esotericism, and religion.
From: Wikipedia
 Brief History of Cosmology
600 BC

500 BC Thales
Anaximander
Pythagoras

400 BC
Democritus

300 BC

200 BC Aristotle

100 BC

100 AD

Ptolemy
 ...the dark ages...

1400 AD

1500 AD

Copernicus
1600 AD
Brahe

Galilei Kepler
1700 AD
 Copernicus

Brahe

Galilei Kepler

Newton

1800 AD

1900 AD

1910
Einstein

1920

Friedman
1930
Lemaitre Hubble
1940
 Lemaitre

1950 Zwicky

1960

1970
Penzias & Wilson

Rubin
1980

Guth

1990

2000

Perlmutter Riess Schmidt

today
 The Universe in a Nutshell
Specific names in red
Astronomical objects in blue
We live on Earth

which is one of 8 planets that make up the Solar system,

together with the Sun, which is our nearest star.

 The Universe in a Nutshell
Most planets in the Solar System have moons (only exceptions are Mercury & Venus)

Moon (Earth) Io (Jupiter) Callisto (Jupiter) Titan (Saturn) Phobos (Mars)

NOT TO SCALE!!!!
Planets orbit around stars; moons (or satellites) orbit around planets
Stars emit lights, planets reflect light

Other stars also can have planets, as of Aug 16, 2013, astronomers have detected
a total of 914 extra-Solar planets, plus >18,000 candidates detected with the
Kepler mission

None of these planets have been `seen directly’.

Astronomers infer their presence using the reflex
motion of the star around which the planet orbits....
 The Universe in a Nutshell
Most planets in the Solar System have moons (only exceptions are Mercury & Venus)

Moon (Earth) Io (Jupiter) Callisto (Jupiter) Titan (Saturn) Phobos (Mars)

NOT TO SCALE!!!!
Planets orbit around stars; moons (or satellites) orbit around planets
Stars emit lights, planets reflect light

Other stars also can have planets, as of Aug 16, 2013, astronomers have detected
a total of 914 extra-Solar planets, plus >18,000 candidates detected with the
Kepler mission

....or using the periodic reduction in brightness

from the star that arises from the planet
transitting in front of the star.
 The Universe in a Nutshell
All the stars that we can see with the naked
eye on a clear night belong to our galaxy,
the Milky Way.

The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy that

consists of about 100 billion stars, most
of which reside in a disk-like structure.

Definition
A galaxy is a large agglomeration of
stars bound to each other by gravity
Spiral galaxy face-on Spiral galaxy edge-on

Since our Solar System is located within disk,

location of Sun
we see Milky Way as nebulous band of star-light

Movie: Panorama of the Milky Way http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH9R6MpC3AQ&feature=fvw

 The Universe in a Nutshell
halo

disk bulge

At the very center of the Milky Way,

astronomers have discovered a supermassive
black hole with a mass of 3 million Solar masses.
 The Universe in a Nutshell
Our Milky Way is only one of billions of galaxies scattered throughout the Universe

Magellanic clouds
The Milky Way has several smaller satellite
galaxies, which orbit around the Milky Way.
The most famous of these are the
Magellanic clouds, which are visible to the
naked eye from the Southern hemisphere

Andromeda galaxy

The nearest neighbor galaxy is the

Andromeda galaxy, which also has two
satellite galaxies. One can see this
galaxy, located in the constellation
Andromeda, with small binoculars.
satellite galaxies
 The Universe in a Nutshell
Galaxies come in a variety of sizes, masses, and shapes...
 Cosmic Collisions

now
Our nearest neighbour, the
2 billion years
Andromeda galaxy, is on a
collision course with the Milky
Way. The collision, which will
happen about 4 billion years
from today, will cause the two
3.75 billion years 3.85 billion years
disk galaxies to `merge’ into a
giant elliptical galaxy...

3.9 billion years 4.0 billion years

The images to the left show
computer simulations of what
this (slow) spectacle will look
like from Earth...The first
image is today, the last one
corresponds to 7 billion years
5.1 billion years 7 billion years
into the future...
 Cosmic Collisions

now
Our nearest neighbour, the
2 billion years
Andromeda galaxy, is on a
collision course with the Milky
Way. The collision, which will
happen about 4 billion years
from today, will cause the two
3.75 billion years 3.85 billion years
disk galaxies to `merge’ into a
giant elliptical galaxy...

3.9 billion years 4.0 billion years

The images to the left show
computer simulations of what
this (slow) spectacle will look
like from Earth...The first
image is today, the last one
corresponds to 7 billion years
5.1 billion years 7 billion years
into the future...
 The Universe in a Nutshell
Some galaxies reveal energetic jets emerging from their center
A ground-based image of the elliptical M87

and a high-resolution image of the central region

Other galaxies reveal immense lobes

of emission at radio-wavelengths...
 The Universe in a Nutshell
Astronomers believe these phenomena are due to a supermassive black hole
in the nucleus of these galaxies that is accreting matter....

and the real deal...

Artist
Impressions
 The Universe in a Nutshell
Galaxies like to live together; many galaxies reside in clusters, which are large groups
of hundreds to thousands of galaxies. They are the largest bound structures known.

Galaxy
Cluster
The Universe in a Nutshell
Astronomers have mapped the distribution of
millions of galaxies with `redshift surveys’
such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).

The 2.5m Sloan Survey Telescope at the

Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico.

Galaxies are found to be distributed

in a filamentary, foamy structure,
called “the cosmic web”.

The redshift distribution of ~500.000

galaxies observed as part of the SDSS
 The Universe in a Nutshell
This is what the sky looks like if you had micro-wave sensitive eyes.
What you see is Milky Way (foreground) and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
 The Universe in a Nutshell
After careful removal of the foreground, this is what you see: tiny fluctuations in
the CMB; reflecting the structure of the Universe when it was 300.000 yrs old.

The CMB is radiation left-over from the Big Bang.

This is as `far’ as we can see; it indicates the edge of our detectable Universe.
The LCDM Concordance Cosmology
 Looking Back in Time
Light has large, but finite & constant speed of c = 300,000 km/s = 186,000 miles/s
Physicists typically use the
symbol c to indicate the
To put this in perspective: a light wave travels 7.5 timesaround the i.e.
speed of light, Earth
E=MC 2 in
1 sec.
The space shuttle takes 10.8 hours = 39,000 seconds to cover this distance
Average speed of
Space Shuttle ~8km/s
Light is so fast that we do not notice its finite speed in everyday live. However,
in cosmology the length scales are so big that the finite speed of light has a
very important impact: we are looking back in time!

Light from the Moon takes 1.3 seconds to reach us

Light from the Sun takes 8 minutes to reach us

Light from the star Sirius takes 8.6 years to reach us

Light from the center of the Milky Way takes 26,000 years to reach us

Light from the Andromeda Galaxy takes 2.5 million years to reach us
 Looking back in time
By looking at galaxies further away, we are looking further back in time.

In that respect, a telescope is like a time-machine, and a deep image, is

like an archeological dig.

Size of HUDF
to scale

In 2003, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged

a tiny, apparently empty area close to the
constellation Orion. The image was exposed for
~1 million seconds (11.5 days), resulting in the
deepest image of the Universe ever taken: the
Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF)
 Looking back in time
By looking at galaxies further away, we are looking further back in time.

In that respect, a telescope is like a time-machine, and a deep image, is

like an archeological dig.

Size of HUDF
to scale

In 2003, the Hubble Space Telescope imaged

a tiny, apparently empty area close to the
constellation Orion. The image was exposed for
~1 million seconds (11.5 days), resulting in the
deepest image of the Universe ever taken: the
Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF)
 Looking back in time

Movie: The Hubble Ultra Deep Field http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-mwfUr-3Xc 2m 43s

 INTERMEZZO: Scientific Notation
n 0.01 = 10 -2
10 means a 1 with n zeros after it
0.1 = 10 -1
1 = 10 0
-n n 10 = 10 1
10 means 1/10
100 = 10 2
1000 = 10 3
In scientific notation any number is expressed as ax10n where
a is a number between 1 and 10 and n is a positive or negative number

Examples: 2.43 106 = 2, 430, 000

2.43 10 2 = 0.0243
14 billion = 14, 000, 000, 000 = 1.4 1010
1 year = 365.25 24 60 60 sec
= 31, 557, 600 sec 3 107 sec
9 1/2
= 1/ 9 = 1/3
 INTERMEZZO: Scientific Notation

Rules for doing arithmetic in scientific notation:

a 10n b 10m = a b 10n+m
a 10n
= (a/b) 10n m
b 10 m

m
[a 10n ] = am 10n m

Some examples of those rules in action:

5.0 104 2.5 10 2 = 12.5 102 = 1.25 103

5.0 104
= 2 10 6
2.5 10 2
1/2
4 104 = 41/2 102 = 4 102 = 2 102
1/2 1/2
4 103 = 4 10 102 = 40 101 = 6 101
 INTERMEZZO: Scientific Notation
Units: throughout, whenever we need to use constants of nature
(Newton’s gravitational constant, speed of light, proton mass),
we use MKS units (Meters, Kilograms, Seconds)

In scientific notation, we regularly k = kilo = 103 m = milli = 10-3

use a prefix to indicate big or small M = mega = 106 µ = micro = 10-6
numbers. The most often encountered G = giga = 109 n = nano = 10-9
prefixes are listed here T = tera = 1012 p = pico = 10-12

Accuracy: it suffices to express quantities with one significant digit

(i.e., 3 x 107 rather than 3.1698219 x 107)
NO CALCULATORS NEEDED !!
p
3=⇡= 10

Be Human, not Android

 Light-year: a measure of distance
In astronomy, it is customary to express distances in light-years.
A light-year is the distance light travels in one year

c=3 105 km/s 1 lightyear = 3 ⇥ 105 km/s ⇥ 3 ⇥ 107 s

1 yr = 3 107 s = 9 ⇥ 1012 km = 9 ⇥ 109 m

Hence, a light-year (hereafter `ly’) is nearly 10 trillion km, an extremely large

distance by human standards. However, in cosmology it is still fairly small;
- The nearest star to the Sun is Proxima Centauri at a distance of 4.2 ly.
- The diameter of the Milky Way disk is approximately 100,000 ly.
- The distance to Andromeda galaxy is approximately 2.5 million ly.

In cosmology, one therefore typically expresses distances in Megaparsec (Mpc):

A parsec is a distance measure equal to 3.26 ~ 3 light year.
6 ly
1 pc = 3.2
1 Mpc = 106 pc = 3 106 ly = 3 1019 km
- The distance to Andromeda galaxy is approximately 0.8 Mpc
 Looking back in time

Question: A galaxy is located at a distance of 300 Mpc. How long ago was
the light that we receive from this galaxy emitted?

[A] 300 years (3 x 102 yr)

[B] 300 Mega years (3 x 108 yr)
[C] 9 x 108 years
[D] 9 x 1012 years

Answer: 300 Mpc = 300 x 3.26 x 10 6 ly = 3 x 3.26 x 10 8 ly = 109 ly

or: 300 Mpc = 3 x 102 x 3 x 106 = 9 x 108 ly
Hence, it takes about one billion years for the light from this
galaxy to reach Earth; we see the galaxy as it was ~109 years ago...
 A sense of scale: powers of ten

The objects we have covered so far cover a wide range in sizes:

- diameter of Earth is ~1.3 x 10 4km

- distance to Moon is ~ 3.8 x 10 5km
- diameter of Solar System is ~ 5.9 x 10 9km
- distance to Proxima Centauri is ~ 4.0 x 1013 km ~ 4.2 ly
- diameter of Milky Way is ~ 9.5 x 1017 km ~ 100,000 ly
- distance to Andromeda Galaxy is ~ 2.3 x 1019 km ~ 0.8 Mpc
- diameter of a cluster is ~ 1020 km ~ 3 Mpc
- size of visible Universe is ~ 4.3 x 1023 km ~ 14 Gpc

To grasp the range of scales involved, the following movies are helpful

9 min Movie: Powers of Ten (1968, by Ray & Charles Earnes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0

6.5 min Movie:The Known Universe (2009, by AMNH)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U&feature=player_embedded
 A sense of scale
To get a true sense of scale, let’s consider a scale-model of the Sun
and its neighboring stars.

In our scale model the Sun is represented by a tennis-ball, which has

a radius of about 3 cm. At what distance do we have to place our
model for Proxima Centauri?

[A] roughly 3 meters

[B] roughly 10 meters
[C] Calhoun College (roughly 50 meters)
[D] The New Haven Green (roughly 250 meters)
[E] The Yale Bowl (about 2000 meters)
Radius of Sun: 6.96... x 108 m --> 3 x 10-2 m

A sense of scale
In our scale model the Sun is represented by a tennis-ball, which has
a diameter of about 6.7cm. At what distance do we have to place our
model for Proxima Centauri?

Diameter of Sun: 1.39... x 109 m 6.7 x 10-2 m

14 x 108
Scale factor = ------------ = 2 x 1010
7 x 10 -2

Distance to Proxima Centauri: 4.2 ly = 4.2 x 9 x 1015 m = 4 x 1016 m

4 x 10 16
m = 2 x 106 m = 2000 km
In our scale model this becomes: -------------
2 x 1010
 km
00
20
In our scale model, Proxima Centauri will be located in New Orleans,
~2000 km away from Harkness Hall room 208
The location of Pluto
ASTR 170
= Sun

240m

Pluto
 A sense of scale

Along similar lines, now consider another scale model, focussing on galaxies

In this scale model the Milky Way is represented by a frisbee, which

has a diameter of about 21 cm. At what distance do we have to place
our model for the Andromeda Galaxy?

Answer: ~5 meter
Science
 What is science?
Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge") is an enterprise
that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations
and predictions about the world. From: Wikipedia

The key-word here is testable; the claims of a theory (`knowledge’)

are subject to observational or experimental testing!

Science is a process by which we come up with possible explanations

or theories for what we observe in nature and then use observation
and experiment to filter out theories that do not work.

Science works on the basis of empirical falsification (Karl Popper):

a theory cannot be proven correct, only demonstated to be wrong.
 How does science operate?
A theory is a proposed explanation for how some aspect of the universe behaves*.
- must make predictions that are falsifiable
- when theory is first proposed it is called a hypothesis

A theory that is simpler and explains more is often considered a better theory
Here `simpler’ means having fewer free parameters, not necessarily that the
math is simpler!! The three
This tooth-fairies
concept (dark matter,
is known dark energy
as `Occam’s & inflation)
razor’.
make our LCDM concordance cosmology `complicated’ and `ugly’
A theory that has made many predictions that have been tested successfully
is often called a physical law. We believe physical laws to hold (under certain
conditions), but we can never prove this to be the case.

An experiment is an observation made under conditions arranged so as to isolate

and test a particular prediction made by a theory.
- must be repeatable
- must carefully control external/environmental variables
Prior to publication, scientific results (new theory, experimental data, etc.) are
subjected to peer review.
*NOTE: scientists often use the words model and theory interchangeably. Strictly speaking,
though, a theory must be testable, while a model may simply be used for convenience.
 The Scientific Method

Principles of Scientific Method

Disagreement is settled by observation & experiment

A theory is never proven correct, but supporting

evidence does make a theory stronger

Better theories explain more with fewer “parameters”

Observation & experiment need to be repeatable

Publications are subjected to peer review

!!!

See also Sections 1.2 & 1.3 of textbook!!!

History of
Cosmology
 Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Thales of Miletus (624 BC - 546 BC)

Often regarded as the first philosopher in the

Greek tradition.
Influenced by travels to Egypt & Babylonia

Thales tried to explain phenomena without reference to mythology.

Used Geometry: he famously measured the height of the pyramids by

measuring the length of their shadow at the time of the day when his own
shadow was as long as he himself.

Cosmological Thesis:

Earth floats on water; earthquakes occur

when Earth is rocked by waves. 45o

The world started from water; earth is result of silting, just as he

had observed at the river Nile...
 Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Anaximander (610 BC - 546 BC)
Also from Miletus. Pupil of Thales, teacher of
Anaximenes & Pythagoras

Considered “Father of Cosmology”

Nature is ruled by laws

First proponent of evolution: animals originated from fish,

humans evolved from simpler forms...
[these claims were based on the fact that fossils were known to exist]

Cosmological Thesis:
Introduced the abstract apeiron (indefinite, infinite, boundless, unlimited)
as an origin of the Universe; he argued that Earth, water, fire & air
formed out of apeiron during a period of primal chaos. World originates in
separation of opposites in the apeiron: (hot vs. cold; wet vs. dry)
 Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Anaximander (610 BC - 546 BC)
Also from Miletus. Pupil of Thales, teacher of
Anaximenes & Pythagoras

Considered “Father of Cosmology”

Anaximander’s Cosmology

Earth is cylindrical drum. Flat top forms inhabited

world, surrounded by circular oceanic mass.
Earth floats very still in center of infinite
(revolutionary idea, allowing for bodies to pass under the earth).
This world is surrounded by concentric wheels with
holes in it through which we see Fire --> stars,
planets, Sun & Moon. In case of Sun & Moon
wheels, holes could change shape to explain moon-
phases and lunar & solar eclipses

http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/hmendel/Ancient%20Mathematics/Philosophical%20Texts/Anaximander/AnaximanderCouprieDiagDay.mov
 Pre-Socratic Philosophers

Empedocles (ca 490 BC - 430 BC)

Lived in Agrigentum (Greek city in Sicily)

Empedocles demonstrated existence of air, using a water thief.

Originator of the cosmogenic theory of four classical elements

• Air is primarily wet and secondarily hot.

• Fire is primarily hot and secondarily dry.
• Earth is primarily dry and secondarily cold.
• Water is primarily cold and secondarily wet.

Everything is made out of (some

combination of) these elements.
This `dogma’ survived for ~2000 yrs
 Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Pythagoras (ca 570 BC - 495 BC)
Born on island of Samos.

Moved to Croton in Southern Italy where he did most

of his `work’ (no writings of him have ever been found)

Credited with Pythagorean Theorem, though this

was known & utilized before by Babylonians and
Indians. Pythagoras (or one of his followers) may
have been first to proof theorem (controversial)

Introduced idea that mathematics & numbers are `fundamental’

“The so-called Pythagoreans, who were the first to take up mathematics, not only
advanced this subject, but saturated it. They fancied that the principles of mathematics
were the principles of all things.” (Aristotle, in Metaphysics, ca 350 BC)

Founded a very secretive, religious sect in Croton...

Movie: Three-Minute Philosophy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlBA9_3zj9w
 Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Democritus (460 BC- 370 BC)
Born in Abdera, Thrace, Greece.
Pupil of Leucippus
By many considered the “father of modern science”.

Extreme believer in physical laws (mechanical explanations):

no room for mystecism, randomness, purpose or prime mover as in
the teleological views of of Plato & Aristotle
Because of this, Plato disliked him so much that he wished all his books burned.

Build on Leucippus’ atomic theory for the cosmos:

Everything is composed of atoms, which are
- indivisible
- indestructible
- always in motion
- and between which lies empty space
Properties of material (iron, water, air, rock, etc) depend the properties
of their atoms: very different from Empedocles’ four elements
 Aristotle’s Universe
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
Born in Stageira, Chalcidice
Student of Plato, Teacher of Alexander the Great
Writings cover, among other, physics, metaphysics,
poetry, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, ethics & biology

The Five Elements:

Aristotle accepted the four elements of Empedocles, but added a fifth
element, “aether”, which he considered the divine substance that makes
up the heavenly spheres & bodies.

Motion:
Each of four earthly elements has its natural place. Earth is at center of
the Universe, then water, then air, then fire. When they are NOT at their
natural place --> motion: bodies sink in water, air bubbles rise up, rain falls
in air, fire rises in air. Heavenly element “aether” has perpetual circular motion.
 Aristotle’s Universe
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
Born in Stageira, Chalcidice
Student of Plato, Teacher of Alexander the Great
Writings cover, among other, physics, metaphysics,
poetry, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, ethics & biology

Earth is spherical

Based on the following observations, Aristotle considered a spherical Earth:

- during lunar eclipse, Earth’s shadow on moon is round
- when travelling North-South, new constellations appear
- when boat sails off in any direction, its hull dissapears before its sails

Note: this was not a new idea; Pythagoras (~500 BC) already `knew’ that Earth was spherical...
 Aristotle’s Universe

Universe is composed of 55 concentric

spheres to which the celestial bodies are
attached. Earth is unmovable at the center,
while the spheres rotate at different but
constant velocities. Outside of spheres was
the Prime Mover, who imparted motion
from the outside in.

Order of Spheres: Earth, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Stars

Ancient Greek philosophers believed spheres and/

or circles to be the most perfect shapes
Spheres fitted tightly together. No empty space or vacua, unlike
in Democritus’s atomic world view: nothing is `floating’
Rotation speed of each sphere was `free parameter’
adjusted to best fit observations.
 Aristotle’s Universe
Aristotle’s Universe consisted of two separate regions:

Sublunary region:
Here all substances were made of four elements; earth, water, air & fire.
This region is `corrupt’ (not perfect) and subject to chance and decay.
- mountains on earth = deviation from perfect sphericity
- things come into being, mature, decay & die
- transmutations (i.e. air --> water, etc) occur constantly

Heavens:
Here substance is made out of aether.
The heavens are perfect (=spherical), unchanging and uncorrubtable.

The moon, although part of the heavens, changes phase and shows colored
spots (signs of imperfection). This was explained as due to fact that lunar
sphere was touching and rubbing against the corrupt, sublunar region.

Movie: Three-Minute Philosophy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm0Uq08xXhY

 The Earth’s circumference
Eratosthenes (ca 276 BC - 195 BC)
Born in Cyrene, (modern day Libya)

Third chief librarian of the

Great Library of Alexandria, Egypt

Eratosthenes was mathematician, poet, athlete, geographer, astronomer, and

music theorist

“Invented” discipline of geography

“Invented” system of longitude & latitude

“Invented” leap day

Measured circumference of the Earth with Eratosthenes map of the world (reconstruction from 1883)

a stick & brains and with amazing accuracy

Movie: Carl Sagan explains.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8cbIWMv0rI

 Ptolemy’s Universe
Ptolemy (90 AD - 168 AD)
Roman citizen of Egypt. Wrote in Greek.

Wrote Almagest (astronomical treatise)

Aristotle’s Cosmology faced three

important problems:

Retrograde Motion of planets

Brightness variation of planets

Variable speed of planets

retrograde motion of Mars during Fall 2003

 Ptolemy’s Universe
To solve these problems, Ptolemy introduced three new constructions:

Epicycles Eccentric Equant Combined

Epicycles: circles on top of circles, allows for retrograde motion

Eccentric: offset earth from center, yields variability in speed & brightness
Equant: point, opposite center from Earth, around which motion of planets
(or epicycle centers) is taken to be uniform.

These constructs were needed to accurately match data on planetary motion.

This Ptolemaic cosmology is the first complete system of mathematical constructions

that successfully account for motion of all heavenly bodies.
- its predictive power made it an important astronomical `tool’ for centuries!!!
 The Antikythera Mechanism
The Greeks not only developed a model to compute/predict the motion of the planets,
they also build sophisticated computers to perform the actual computations!!

Discovered in 1901 by sponge-divers

off the coast of the Greek island
`Antikythera’ as part of treasures on
board of large Roman vessel...
 The Antikythera Mechanism
The Greeks not only developed a model to compute/predict the motion of the planets,
they also build sophisticated computers to perform the actual computations!!

Discovered in 1901 by sponge-divers

off the coast of the Greek island
`Antikythera’ as part of treasures on
board of large Roman vessel...

Robustly dated at first century BC!!

First studied in detail in 1950s by

Yale prof. Derek de Solla Price, who,
using X-ray imaging revealed the
presence of multiple gear-wheels.

Believed to originate from the city

of Syracuse, a colony of Corinth in
present-day Sicily, and speculated
to be made by Archimedes or his
disciples...
 The Antikythera Mechanism
Researchers brought a specially developed CT scanning machine to the museum in
Greece to image (tomography) the mechanism......this is what the data revealed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wp3wL8g2Eg&feature=youtu.be

Short documentaries on the Antikythera Mechanism:

http://www.hpdst.gr/events/exhibitions/antikythera-mechanism [7.5 min]
http://www.nature.com/nature/videoarchive/antikythera/ [14 min]

If you want to know even more, search for the 1hr long BBC documentary entitled:
“The Two-Thousand-Year Old Computer”
Summary: The Aristotelean/Ptolemaic Worldview
The worldview/cosmology laid out by Aristotle and Ptolemy contains the following main elements:

Aristotle's cosmology which placed Earth at center of a spherical Universe. The terrestrial and
celestial regions were made up of different elements with had different kinds of natural movement.

The terrestrial region, consisting of concentric spheres of the four elements—earth, water, air,
and fire. All bodies naturally moved in straight lines until they reached the sphere appropriate for
their elemental composition—their natural place.

The celestial region was made up of the fifth element, Aether, which was unchanging and moved
naturally with circular motion. The observed irregular motion of celestial objects is considered
the combined effects of multiple uniform circular motion.

Ptolemaic model of planetary motion: Ptolemy's Almagest demonstrated that geometrical calculations
could compute the exact positions of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets in the future and in the past,
and showed how these computational models were derived from astronomical observations. The
physical basis for the Ptolemaic model invoked layers of spherical shells, though the most complex
models (with eccentrics, epicycles and equants) were inconsistent with this physical explanation.

These ideas were adopted and considered main-stream ingredients of Roman/Byzantine science,
mediaval Islamic science and the teachings at schools & universities in medieval Europe, until the
onset of the scientific revolution during the renaissance in the 16-17th century AD
 The Scientific Revolution
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543AD)
Born in Torun, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland
Wrote De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium

At time of Copernicus, the geocentric worldviews of Aristotle & Ptolemy were

firmly grounded in main-stream thinking; standard curriculum at universities...

Copernicus postulated a heliocentric model, in which the Sun is located at the

center of the Universe, the planets (in correct order!) rotate around the Sun on
circles, and the moon rotates around the Earth.

Motivation: Ptolemy’s model was becoming insufficiently accurate and Copernicus

wanted to “rid heavenly motion from monstrous equant”
 The Scientific Revolution
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543AD)
Born in Torun, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland
Wrote De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium

An important advantage of Copernicus’

heliocentric model is that it naturally explains
the retrograde motion of the outer planets

Since Copernicus adopted circular orbits, his

model was only marginally more accurate than the
Ptolemaic model (but did not require equants).

Copernicus never got in trouble with church. He

sold his work as astronomical tool to predict orbits;
he never stated his model reflects the truth.
 The Scientific Revolution
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543AD)
Born in Torun, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland
Wrote De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium

At time of publication, De Revolutionibus received little attention since the

notion of a moving/rotating Earth was considered `absurd’:

why don’t things fall off Parallax

why would Earth be only planet with
a moon?
lack of stellar parallax implies that
stars are at much larger distances This angle is called the
than planets...seems “unnatural” (annual) parallax of star A

Contrary to standard lore, Copernicus’ model was

A
NOT the first heliocentric model. That honor goes
Distance Earth-Sun is called
to Aristarhus of Samus, 18 centuries earlier!!! an Astronomical Unit (AU)
Copernicus knew, but didn’t cite Aristarchus
 Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Aristarchus (ca 310 BC - 230 BC)

Born on island of Samos

Originator of first heliocentric cosmology

Used notion (knowledge?) that moon is

illuminated by Sun to estimate distance
to Sun using simple geometry.

He found Sun to be 18x further away than

moon (actual ratio is ~400), and since both appear equally big on the sky,
concluded that Sun is therefore 18x bigger. Since he deemed it unnatural
to have such a big object orbit a much smaller object, he placed the Sun
at the center of the Universe.

Aristarchus was charged with impiety for “putting in motion the hearth of the Universe”
 Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Aristarchus (ca 310 BC - 230 BC)

Born on island of Samos

Originator of first heliocentric cosmology

But how did Aristarchus determine the size of the Moon relative to the Earth?

Unknown to Aristarchus, the true situation looks more like this: Aristarchus
therefore overestimated the Lunar size by about a factor two

This is what Aristarchus assumed the Earth’s shadow

looks like during a Lunar eclipse

Aristarchus measured time from beginning of lunar eclipse to total eclipse, and found it to be half
the time of total eclipse. Assuming the above drawing is correct he concluded that Earth is twice
as large as Moon. Hence, the size of the Sun is 18/2 = 9x the size of Earth...
 Intermezzo: trigonometry

a b
sin = cos =
c c c
a a
tan =
α b
b sin2 + cos2 =1

Small angle approximation:

If the angle α is small (a<<b), then the following approximations hold:

sin = tan = cos = (1 2

)=1

Note that these equations ONLY hold if α is measured in radians.

A full circle is 360 degrees and is 2π radians. Hence,
360o 1 degree = 60 arcmin
1 rad = 60o
2 1 arcmin = 60 arcsec

See small_angle_apm.pdf on Classes*v2 website for more information

 The Scientific Revolution
Tycho Brahe (1546 - 1601)
Danish astronomer
Lost part of nose in duel with another student,
wore metal insert over missing part

Is credited with most accurate astronomical observations of his time.

Refuted theory of celestial spheres by demonstrating that (super)novae

and comets are superlunar objects, rather than
atmospheric phenomena: `celestial spheres’ are
not in immutable, unchangeable state of perfection

Combined geometrical benefits of Copernican

system with philosophical benefits of Ptolemaic
system in a geo-heliocentric system:
Sun & Moon orbit around central Earth, while
planets orbit around Sun. This Tychonic model for
the Universe was popular in early 17th century.
Illustration of Tychonic Universe
 The Scientific Revolution
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
Born in Pisa, Italy
Central Figure in Scientific Revolution
Father of “Modern Science”

In 1609 he build his first telescope (3x magnification). One year later he
build an improved version (30x magnification) and published Sidereus
Nuncius (“The Starry Messenger”), the first scientific
treatise based on telescopic observations. It reported:

discovery of Galilean moons of Jupiter

moutains & valleys on Moon’s surface
that Milky Way band consists of many stars
planets appear as disks, stars don’t

These first two discoveries both refuted

the Aristotelian/Ptolemaic worldview...
 The Scientific Revolution
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
Born in Pisa, Italy
Central Figure in Scientific Revolution
Father of “Modern Science”

Mountains & Valleys on Moon’s surface

Galileo observed that line separating lunar day from lunar night
(=terminator) is smooth across dark regions, but irregular where
it crosses brighter areas. He correctly deduced that darker
regions are flat, low-lying areas, while brighter regions are rough
& covered with mountains. He estimated mountaintops to be
at least 4 miles in height.

This contradicts Aristotelean cosmology according to which

all heavenly bodies are perfect (=smooth) spheres!!!

Galileo’s sketches of the moon in Sidereus Nuncius

 The Scientific Revolution
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
Born in Pisa, Italy
Central Figure in Scientific Revolution
Father of “Modern Science”

Discovery of Galilean Moons of Jupiter

On Jan 7, 1610 Galileo observed Jupiter and noted “three stars

strung on a line through the planet”. In the following weeks he
noted these `stars’ never leave Jupiter, appear at varying
distances and sides of Jupiter, and are four rather than three.
He soon realized they must be moons orbiting Jupiter....

This contradicts Aristotelean cosmology according to which

all heavenly bodies orbit Earth!!!

Galilean moons of Jupiter (Io,

Europe, Ganymede, Callisto)
seen through small telescope
 The Scientific Revolution
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
Born in Pisa, Italy
Central Figure in Scientific Revolution
Father of “Modern Science”

Discovery of Phases of Venus observed

In Sept 1610 Galileo observed that Venus reveals phases

The phases
like the moon. In 1613 he published his results, showing of Venus
that Venus goes through a full set of phases.

explained
This was last nail in coffin of Ptolemaic
cosmology, in which Venus can never be more
than half-lit, because Venus and Sun are
never observed to be far apart

Most astronomers quickly abandoned Ptolemaic

model, but most converted to Tychonic model,
Ptolemaic Model rather than Copernican model
 The Scientific Revolution
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
Born in Pisa, Italy
Central Figure in Scientific Revolution
Father of “Modern Science”

Galileo and the Inquisition

Pope Urban VIII, who was a friend and admirer
of Galileo, assured him he could write about
Copernican theory as long as he treated it as a
mathematical proposition. However, with the
printing of his book “Dialogue Concerning the
Two Chief World Systems”, Galileo was called
to Rome in 1633 to face the Inquisition. He was
found “vehemently suspect of heresy” and
placed under house arrest (in Florence) for the
remainder of his live.

Movie: Three-Minute Philosophy Galileo facing the Roman Inquisition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1awvC1l7mM
 Intermezzo: Galileo’s observations of Saturn
Galileo also used his telescope to observe Saturn. On July 30, 1610 he wrote to his Medici patron:

I discovered another very strange wonder, which I should like to make known to their
Highnesses . . . , keeping it secret, however, until the time when my work is published . . . . the star
of Saturn is not a single star, but is a composite of three, which almost touch each other, never
change or move relative to each other, and are arranged in a row along the zodiac, the middle one
being three times larger than the lateral ones, and they are situated in this form: oOo.

In order to avoid being scooped, while he waited to publish these results in his new book, Galileo
“announced” his discovery in the form of an anagram (fairly common prior to scientific journals!!)

smaismrmilmepoetaleumibunenugttauiras

altissimum planetam tergemimum observavi

“I have observed the highest planet tri-form”

It wasn’t until 1659 that the Dutch astronomer Christiaan

Huygens published his theory that Saturn is surrounded
by “a thin flat ring that nowhere touches it”

Sketches of Saturn from

Huygen’s Systema Saturnium Christiaan Huygens
 The Scientific Revolution
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
Born in Pisa, Italy
Central Figure in Scientific Revolution
Father of “Modern Science”

Galileo’s revision of the concept of motion

Galileo also made important contributions to physics.
He disproved the Aristotelian idea that heavier
objects fall faster through a medium (air/water)
than lighter ones. Using various experiments Galileo
asserted that all object, regardless of their mass,
fall at the same rate (in a vacuum).

He also discovered that pendulums are isochronic:

their period is independent of the amplitude (the
arc of the swing).

Galileo’s work is perfect

example of scientific method
 The Scientific Revolution
Johannes Kepler (1571 - 1630)
Born in Weil der Stadt (near Stuttgart), Germany
Key Figure (astronomer) in Scientific Revolution
Worked under Tycho Brahe, using his accurate data

Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion: The Ellipse

The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at
one of the two foci

A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal

area during equal time intervals

The square of the orbital period, P, of a planet is

directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major
axis, a, of its orbit
2 3
P a
 Kepler’s First Law
The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of
the two foci

ra rp
Orbital eccentricity e = The eccentricity of the
ra + rp Earth’s orbit is e = 0.017.
ra = aphelion distance
A circle has e=0.0
rp = perihelion distance
 Kepler’s Second Law
A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal area during
equal time intervals

Orbital motion is fastest at perihelion (closest to the Sun),

and slowest at aphelion (farthest from the Sun)
 Kepler’s Third Law

The square of the orbital period, P, of a planet is directly

proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis, a, of its orbit

2
Pplanet a3planet
2 = 3
PEarth aEarth

Example:
- The semi-major axis of Earth is 1 AU (eccentricity is negligible)
- The period of Earth is 1 year.
- The period of Jupiter is observed to be 11.85 years.

2/3
PJupiter
aJupiter = aEarth = (11.85)2/3 AU = 5.2 AU
PEarth
 The Scientific Revolution
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Born in England, the year Galileo died.
Revolutionized physics & mathematics
One of most influential people in human history

Among his many achievements are: Trinity College, Cambridge

invention of reflecting telescope

invention of calculus
development of law of universal gravity
elucidation of three laws of motion

Was named Lucasian Professor of Mathematics

at Cambridge in his mid-twenties (recently held
by Stephen Hawking)

Many of his great ideas came in 1665-66, when he spent time back at home (Woolsthorpe)
while his Cambridge was closed because of the plague (would eventually kill 1 out of every 6 in
London). He made himself a study, began reading (Euclid, Descartes, Galileo, Copernicus,
Kepler), taking notes, and thinking (mainly about concept of motion and infinity). Since he was
poor, he invented his own shorthand (tiny script) to save on paper costs.
 The Scientific Revolution
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Born in England, the year Galileo died.
Revolutionized physics & mathematics
One of most influential people in human history

Newton as the inventor of Calculus

Calculus: branch of mathematics that allows one

to deal with infinitesimals & infinities,
including limits, differentials & integrals

Calculus offers solution to Zeno’s paradox (ca. 440 BC)

(infinite series can be finite; 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + 1/32 +...... = 1)

Largely invented by Newton as a tool to mathematically

deal with his ideas about motion.

Important contributions and additions due to the

German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz (1646 - 1716).
 The Scientific Revolution
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Born in England, the year Galileo died.
Revolutionized physics & mathematics
One of most influential people in human history

Newton’s laws of motion:

Objects will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a
straight line unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
“law of intertia”

F = m a; Force = mass x acceleration

m = inertial mass

To every action there is always opposed an equal and

opposite reaction table pushes back on book
 The Scientific Revolution
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Born in England, the year Galileo died.
Revolutionized physics & mathematics
One of most influential people in human history

Newton’s law of Gravity

Both forces are equal

GM1 M2
F =
r2
F is the gravitational force. [F] = N (Newton) = kg m s -2
G is the gravitation constant. G = 6.7 x 10-11 m 3 kg -1 s-2 This law of gravity was first
formulated in Newton’s
M is the gravitational mass. [M] = kg Principia, in addition to his 3
r is the distance between the objects. [r] = m [MKS units] laws of motion.

Newton realized that his law applies to both falling apples on Earth, as well as
to planets orbiting the Sun, or any other celestial body: his law is universal !!!
 The Scientific Revolution
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Born in England, the year Galileo died.
Revolutionized physics & mathematics
One of most influential people in human history

2 3
Kepler empirically found that Pplanet Rplanet
However, he did not understand the origin of this scaling relation.

4 2
Using his universal law of gravity, Newton derived: P =2
R3
G(M1 + M2 )

Newton’s version applies to all objects orbiting each other, not just
planets orbiting around the Sun: Newton’s version is universal

In case of solar system, M1 is mass of Sun, and M2 M1 is the

2
mass of a planet. Hence, in the Solar system one has that P R3
in agreement with the empirical scaling relation of Kepler.
 The Scientific Revolution
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Born in England, the year Galileo died.
Revolutionized physics & mathematics
One of most influential people in human history

2 3
Kepler empirically found that Pplanet Rplanet
However, he did not understand the origin of this scaling relation.

4 2
Using his universal law of gravity, Newton derived: P =2
R3
G(M1 + M2 )

Newton’s version applies to all objects orbiting each other, not just
planets orbiting around the Sun: Newton’s version is universal

In case of solar system, M1 is mass of Sun, and M2 M1 is the

Nature and nature’s laws lay hid in night; 2
mass of a planet. Hence, in the Solar system one has that P R3
God said, Let Newton be! and all was light Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
in agreement with the empirical scaling relation of Kepler.
 Summary: The Scientific Revolution
The following new ideas contributed to what is called the scientific revolution:

The replacement of the Earth by the Sun as the center of the solar system.
The replacement of the Aristotelian theory that matter was continuous and made up of the
elements Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Aether by rival ideas that matter was atomistic or
corpuscular or that its chemical composition was even more complex
The replacement of the Aristotelian idea that heavy bodies, by their nature, moved straight
down toward their natural places; that light bodies, by their nature, moved straight up
toward their natural place; and that ethereal bodies, by their nature, moved in unchanging
circular motions with the idea that all bodies are `heavy’ (inert) and move according to
Newton’s three laws of motion
The replacement of the Aristotelian concept that all motions require the continued action of
a cause (prime mover) by the inertial concept that motion is a state that, once started,
continues indefinitely without further cause.
The introduction of the universal law gravity, which applies to all (both Earthly and Heavenly)
bodies.

But probably the most innovative idea is the scientific method itself; as Galileo put it: "Philosophy [i.e.,
physics] is written in this grand book—I mean the universe—which stands continually open to our gaze,
but it cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and interpret the
characters in which it is written. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are
triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures, without which it is humanly impossible to understand
a single word of it; without these, one is wandering around in a dark labyrinth."

Key Players: Copernicus, Brahe, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Bacon, Descartes

Newtonian
Gravity
 Newton’s Law of Gravity

Any object (of non-zero mass) will exert a gravitational force

on any other object (of non-zero mass). The strength of this GM1 M2
F =
force is proportional to the masses involved, and inversely r2
proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Question: Which of the following exerts a stronger gravitational force on you?

a) the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way
b) a pingpong ball 2m away from you

- Distance to galactic center = 26,000 ly

- SMBH at galactic center has mass of 3 million suns
- Sun weighs 2x1030 kg
- A pingpong ball weighs about 2.4 grams
 Black Hole or Ping-Pong Ball?
Answer: The ratio of the two forces is given by

2
Fpp Mpp rBH
=
FBH MBH rpp

MBH = 3 106 2 1030 kg = 6 1036 kg

Mpp = 2.4 10 3 kg
rBH = 2.6 104 9 1012 km = 2 1017 km
rpp = 2 10 3 km

Substituting these values gives

Fpp 2.4 24
= 10 39
1040 = =4
FBH 6 6

Hence, the gravitational force due to the ping-pong ball is four times stronger
than that due to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
 Gravity is an extremely weak force
Gravitational Constant: G = 6.7 x 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2

1 kg 1 kg

F = 6.7 x 10-11 N
1m

For comparison, lifting a suitcase of 20kg requires a force of ~200 N

Gravitational Acceleration of the Earth: g = 9.8 m s-2

GmM
Newton’s law of gravity: F = GM
r2 g= = 9.8 m s-2
r2
Newton’s 2nd law of motion: F = mg

m M = 6.0 x 1024 kg
r = 6.4 x 106 m
M
 Intermezzo: Scalars versus Vectors

SCALARS VECTORS

a scalar quantity, S, is a quantity a vector quantity, v , has both a

that only has a magnitude. magnitude and a direction

temperature velocity
mass acceleration
length force
momentum
area
gradient (of a scalar)
volume
electrical field
energy
magnetic field
pressure gravitational field
density

amplitude of a vector v = |v|

 The Greek Alphabet
In physics and mathematics, we often use Greek letters to
indicate certain constants or variables
Uniform
Circular
Motion
 QUIZZZZ...

If I swing a bucket with

a ball as shown in the
picture, the ball moves
outwards...

Question: what force causes this movement?

ANSWER: the centrifugal force

CORRECT ANSWER: no force; this is just manifestation

of Newton’s first law of motion
 QUIZZZZ...

What really happens is that the

ball obeys Newton’s first law of
motion, and wants to continue its
linear, uniform motion. From the
perspective of the rotating
bucket, the ball now moves wrt
the bucket, as if a force is acting
on it. In reality, a force acts on
the bucket, not on the ball!!!

view from above

 Uniform Circular Motion
Consider a mass m in uniform circular motion around a point O
The word uniform indicates that the speed v = |v| is constant.
m
ac Note, though, that the velocity, which is a vector,
v r constantly changes its direction.

The period of rotation is equal to the

O 2 r
circumference divided by the speed: P =
v
We can also define an angular speed, as the 2
number of radians covered per unit time: =
P
The angular speed, , which has the units rad/s, 2 r
v= = r
can be written as = v/r P
Based on Newton’s first law, there must be a force acting on m. This force is
called the centripetal force, which causes a centripetal acceleration, ac , in the
radial direction, always pointing towards the center of rotation, O

v2
Without derivation, which requires calculus: ac = |ac | = = 2
r
r
 Centripetal Force
The centripetal force can be due to different things:

The tension in your arm: The tension in a rope:

Tension: is the magnitude of the pulling force exerted by a string,

cable, chain, etc. on some object. The direction of the
tension force is always parallel to the string, cable, chain. T
The tension is due to the electromagnetic forces between
the molecules in the string, cable, chain.

Fg
 Centripetal Force
The centripetal force can be due to different things:

The tension in your arm: The tension in a rope: The normal force:

Normal Force: is the component of the contact force that is

perpendicular to the surface of contact.
Contact Force: a force between objects in direct contact. FN
this force is electromagnetic in origin, and is
exerted between the molecules of the objects in
contact.
Fg
 Centripetal Force
The centripetal force can be due to different things:

The tension in your arm: The tension in a rope: The normal force: Friction:

Friction: is the component of the contact force that acts

Ffr
parallel to the contacting surfaces, opposing sliding. FN
NOTE: The friction force has the same magnitude as the component of
the gravitational force acting in the direction of the slide, as long as
the object remains at rest. It it is moving, friction is no longer able
to resist the opposing force (but it is not absent) Fg
Similarly, the normal force has the same magnitude as the component
of the gravitational force acting in direction perpendicular to the slide.
 Centripetal Force
The centripetal force can be due to different things:

The tension in your arm: The tension in a rope: The normal force: Friction:

Fg GM
And most importantly for ASTR 170: GRAVITY ac = = 2
m r
 Centrifugal Force
According to Newton’s third law of motion, “action = reaction”, there must be a force
opposing the centripetal force..

This force is called the reactive centrifugal force, not to be confused with the
fictitious centrifugal force. The latter is not a real force: it is not part of an
interaction (but mere consequence of rotation), and has no reaction-force component:
many textbooks do NOT distinguish these two forces, causing LOTS of confusion

Consider a small, green ball glued to top of

black ball. If you swing fast enough, the
green ball will be `pulled off’ the black ball
by the fictitious centrifugal force...

reactive Q: in what direction will green ball fly off?

centrifugal centripetal
force
A: in direction of circular motion. not in
force
direction of fictitious force!!!

fictitious Fictitious centrifugal force consequence of

centrifugal
inertia and Newton’s first law of motion....
force
Centrifugal Force
vs
Centripetal Force
 Centripetal vs. Centrifugal Force: Definitions
Centripetal Force: the force that makes a body follow a curved path.
It points from the center of the body to the center of motion,
always orthogonal to the motion of the body. It is exerted
on the body by the object causing the centripetal acceleration.

Reactive Centrifugal Force: the reactive force that is paired with the centripetal
force. It is the force directed away from the center of motion
and is exerted by the rotating mass on the object that is
responsible for the centripetal acceleration.

Fictitious Centrifugal Force: is most commonly introduced as an outward force

apparent in a rotating frame of reference. It is apparent
(fictitious) in the sense that it is not part of an interaction, but
is a result of rotation — with no reaction-force counterpart.
It is a manifestation of inertia and Newton’s first law of motion,
and therefore often called an `inertia force’.
 Newton’s Orbital Cannon
What has a falling apple got to do with orbits?
In his Principia, Newton described a thought experiment: imagine a cannon placed on top of a very high
mountain (above atmosphere --> no friction). If projectile is fired with sufficient speed, it will fall at the
same rate as the Earth’s surface curves away --> projectile continues to fall forever = circular orbit.

Astronauts in space shuttle or ISS, in orbit around

the Earth, are continuously falling. Although
Earth’s gravitational force continuously pulls on
astronauts, they experience `weightlessness’
because they are falling (cf. you in falling elevator)

To gain insight, play with the following animation:

http://waowen.screaming.net/revision/force&motion/ncananim.htm
 Newton’s Orbital Cannon
What has a falling apple got to do with orbits?
In his Principia, Newton described a thought experiment: imagine a cannon placed on top of a very high
mountain (above atmosphere --> no friction). If projectile is fired with sufficient speed, it will fall at the
same rate as the Earth’s surface curves away --> projectile continues to fall forever = circular orbit.

Weight

Unlike mass, weight is not an intrinsic property

of an object. In fact, weight is a force!
An object’s weight is the gravitational force
that it experiences. We normally express
weight in kg (though not in physics!!!), because
on the surface of Earth the gravitational force
on a body of mass m, i.e., its weight, is

w = F = mg Astronauts in space shuttle or ISS, in orbit around

the Earth, are continuously falling. Although
Since the gravitational acceleration, g , is a
Earth’s gravitational force continuously pulls on
constant, approximately equal to 9.8 m s -2 , an
astronauts, they experience `weightlessness’
object’s weight is directly proportional to its
because they are falling (cf. you in falling elevator)
mass. You experience weight (gravitational
force) if it is balanced by a normal force (the
earth, your chair, the scale...). If unbalanced, To gain insight, play with the following animation:
you experience `weightlessness’. http://waowen.screaming.net/revision/force&motion/ncananim.htm
 Orbital Speed of Planets
Although orbits of planets are elliptical, they are close to circular. We can use
Kepler’s third law to derive circular velocity = velocity of a perfectly circular orbit.
Consider a test particle (i.e. of negligble mass) in orbit around object of mass M :

4 2
According to Kepler’s third law, P2 = R3
GM

2 R
For a circular orbit, we also have that P = where vc is the circular velocity.
vc

4 2
R2 4 2 R3
Combining both expressions for P: =
vc2 GM

v R 1/2 GM
circular velocity vc =
R

This Keplerian fall-off is in perfect

agreement with observations in Solar system
 Orbital Speed of Planets
Although orbits of planets are elliptical, they are close to circular. We can use
Kepler’s third law to derive circular velocity = velocity of a perfectly circular orbit.
Consider a test particle (i.e. of negligble mass) in orbit around object of mass M :

Alternative derivation based on the centripetal force:

Along circular orbit, the centripetal

m
acceleration is due to the
ac gravitational acceleration
v r

O vc2 GM
ac = = 2
r r

GM
circular velocity vc =
R
 Spherical Matter Distributions
Using elegant geometry, Newton proved that
the gravitational force at a point P inside a
A
P
spherical shell is always exactly zero.
In the illustration, the gravitational force at
O P due to area A is exactly opposite and equal
to that due to area B; the latter is more
B massive, but further away.

A point inside a spherical shell experiences

A
no net gravitational force from that shell P B
C
r
Consequently, point P only experiences a non-
zero gravitational force from shell C. Shells A O

and B, which are located beyond the radius of

P, add zero gravitational force! The
gravitational force at P is EXACTLY the same
as if all the mass of C is located at the origin O
Point P only feels a net gravitational force
from shell C. Shells A & B contribute zero.
 Spherical Matter Distributions
1 2 3
A
P P P
B
C C

= =
r r r
C
O O O

The gravitational force at P is exactly the same in all three situations shown.
In situation 3, the sphere C has the same mass as shell C in situation 2.

r = distance from center of mass distribution

G M (< r) mP M (< r)= mass enclosed within sphere of radius r
FP =
r2 mP= mass of P

As long as the mass distribution is spherical, it does not matter how the mass
within r is distributed; point mass, homogeneous sphere, shell, etc. etc.
WARNING: this only holds in spherical symmetry!!!
 Spherical Matter Distributions
1 2 3
A
P P P
B
C C

= =
r r r
C
O O O

The gravitational force at P is exactly the same in all three situations shown.
In situation 3, the sphere C has the same mass as shell C in situation 2.

r = distance from center of mass distribution

GM (< r)
vc = M (< r)= mass enclosed within sphere of radius r
r vc = circular velocity at r

As long as the mass distribution is spherical, it does not matter how the mass
within r is distributed; point mass, homogeneous sphere, shell, etc. etc.
WARNING: this only holds in spherical symmetry!!!
 Gravitational Field
In physics a field is a region in which a force is present.
gravitational force --> gravitational field.
magnetic force --> magnetic field, etc.

M1 experiences a gravitational force from M2;

We say M1 is located in gravitational field of M2.
Similarly, M2 is located in gravitational field of M1.

Physicists depict the gravitational field as a vector field: to each point in space
you assign a vector whose direction and amplitude indicate the direction and
strength of the gravitational force, respectively.

- The gravitational field of a point mass looks like a porcupine...

- There is no gravitational field inside a spherical mass shell
- Gravitational fields are additive; the gravitational field of
two point masses is a field where the vector at each point in
space is the vector sum of the vectors associated with the
two separate fields.
 Energy
EnergyisisEnergy?
What a quantity that expresses the ability of a physical system to produce
changes on itself or another physical system. This comes about when energy is
transformed from one form to another or from one system to another system.

The unit of energy is the Joule: 1 J = 1 kg m2 s -2 MKS units

Energy comes in many different forms: thermal energy (`heat’), kinetic energy, potential
energy, chemical energy, nuclear energy, electrical energy, mechanical energy, etc.

nuclear energy --> heat & radiation radiation --> electrical energy electrical energy --> mechanical energy

ENERGY CONSERVATION LAW

The total amount of energy of a closed system is always conserved.
 Kinetic & Potential Energy
The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.
1
An object of mass m moving at velocity v has a kinetic energy Ekin = mv 2
2
The potential energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its
position in a force field (e.g., gravitational field)

An object of mass m located at a distance

r from another mass M
GmM GM
has a potential energy Epot = = m 2 r = m ag r
r r
The total energy of an object moving in a gravitational field is the sum of its
kinetic & potential energy. This is often called the mechanical energy.

1 GM m
Etot = Ekin + Epot = mv 2
2 r
In absence of friction, the mechanical energy is a conserved quantity.
During motion in gravitational field, kinetic energy is converted into potential
energy and vice versa.
 Kinetic & Potential Energy
NOTE: potential energy is, by convenient definition, negative!!
Hence, the total (mechanical) energy can be positive, negative or zero.
Bound orbits have negative total (mechanical) energy)
Unbound orbits have positive or zero total (mechanical) energy)

Escape velocity
Parabolic orbit the velocity required to escape (i.e., reach
unbound (E = 0) infinity with zero velocity

1/2
2GM (r)
Elliptical orbit vesc (r) =
bound (E < 0)
r

Circular velocity
the velocity along a circular orbit

1/2
GM (r)
Hyperbolic orbit
vcirc (r) =
r
unbound (E > 0)
 Kinetic & Potential Energy
NOTE: potential energy is, by convenient definition, negative!!
Hence, the total (mechanical) energy can be positive, negative or zero.
Bound orbits have negative total (mechanical) energy)
Unbound orbits have positive or zero total (mechanical) energy)

Escape velocity
the velocity required to escape (i.e., reach
infinity with zero velocity

1/2
2GM (r)
vesc (r) =
r

Circular velocity
the velocity along a circular orbit

1/2
GM (r)
vcirc (r) =
r
 Summary:
Newtonian Gravity
Uniform Circular Motion
 Newton’s law of gravity
Uniform circular motion
GM1 M2 m
F =
r2 ac
v r 2 r
v= = r
P
O

4 2 v2
P =
2
a3 ac = |ac | = = 2
r
G(M1 + M2 ) r

Frictionless motion in gravitational field conserves:

A
P B 1 GM m
C
Etot = Ekin + Epot = mv 2
r 2 r
O

circular speed escape speed

1/2 1/2
GM (< r) 2GM (< r)
vcirc = vesc =
Point P only feels a net gravitational force r r
from shell C. Shells A & B contribute zero.
 Changing Orbits
v x Consider the space shuttle on a circular orbit around
Earth, with uniform velocity v.

Q: what happens to the orbit if at location x the

shuttle accelerates (burst of booster rockets)?
v x
A v x B

C D
v x v x
 Changing Orbits
v x Consider the space shuttle on a circular orbit around
Earth, with uniform velocity v.

Q: what happens to the orbit if at location x the

shuttle accelerates (burst of booster rockets)?
A: the orbit becomes an ellipse with x at the perigee

Q: what happens to the orbit if at location x the

shuttle decelerates (burst of booster rockets
direction opposite of motion)?
A: the orbit becomes an ellipse with x at the apogee

apogee: point along ellipse furthest from earth

perigee: point along ellipse closest to earth
 Constructing a Roller Coaster
vA=0
A

R
h

You want to construct a roller-coaster with a looping as shown.

Ignoring friction, what is the minimum height h from which you
have to start your cart so that it safely completes the looping?

In order to reach B, centripetal acceleration has to be larger than gravitational acceleration: ac = vB2/R ≥ g

For convenience, define potential EA = m g h

energy to be zero at h=0 EB = ½ m vB2 + 2 m g R

Energy conservation requires EA = EB:

m g h = ½ m vB2 + 2 m g R h = (vB2 / 2 g) + 2 R ≥ R/2 + 2R = 5/2 R h ≥ 5/2 R

Elementary Particles,
and the Fundamental
Forces of Nature
 The Electrical Force
The electrical force is very similar to the gravitational force:

Gravitational Force Electrical Force

m1 m2 q1 q2

m1 m2 1 q1 q2
F =G 2 F =
m = gravitational mass r q = electrical charge 4⇥ 0 r2

Masses are always positive, so that force is Charges can be either positive or negative.
always attractive. Opposite charges attract, equal charges repell.

1
G = 6.7 10 11
N m kg
2 2 = 9.0 ⇥ 109 N m2 C 2
4⇥ 0
[q] = C = Coulomb
Although gravitational force is very weak, Although electrical force is very strong, on
all mass is positive. Hence, on large scales large scales there are as many positive
gravitational force dominates. charges as negative charges, making large
objects effectively neutral. On large scales
electrical force is negligible.
atoms or
molecules The Particle Nature of Matter

We distinguish 3 phases (or states)

of matter: solid, liquid & gas.
In astronomy we are mainly
Solid Liquid Gas concerned with gases, as stars (and
hence galaxies) are all gaseous.

Fluid

In a gas, the constituent particles have a mean random velocity v T 1/2

Here T is the absolute temperature, measured in degrees Kelvin

Collisions among the constituent

particles give rise to pressure P T
Here is the density of the gas.

The absolute temperature is also a

measure for the thermal energy content
of the gas: Eth T
 The Particle Nature of Matter
Regular (baryonic) matter is made up of elementary particles. The particles
that are most relevant for ASTR 170 are
p
proton; positive charge (q=+1) mp mn 2000me
19
n neutron; no electrical charge (q=0) qp = qe = 1.6 ⇥ 10 C
e electron; negative charge (q=-1) when talking about elementary particles, we express
electrical charge in units of electric charge of proton

Atoms are made up of a nucleus, consisting of protons and neutrons, surrounded

by electrons. The number of electrons is equal to the number of protons, so that
atoms carry no net electrical charge.

Molecules are electrically neutral groups of at least two atoms held together by
chemical bonds (i.e., water, ethanol, carbon-monoxide, etc.)

Ions are atoms or molecules in which the number of electrons is either larger or
smaller than the number of protons. If the number of electrons is zero, the atom
is said to be fully ionized

Isotopes are atoms that contain the same number of protons, but a different
number of neutrons (i.e. Carbon-12 and Carbon-14 are isotopes).
 proton
The Particle Nature of Matter
p

n neutron
Baryonic
e electron
mass fraction

e
e Hydrogen and Deuterium are isotopes
p n
p
Neutral hydrogen is called HI ~74%
Ionized hydrogen is called HII
Molecular hydrogen is called H2
H (Hydrogen) D (Deuterium)

e e

n p pnp
p n np
~24%
n p
n
e

He (Helium) He+ (singly ionized Helium) He++ (double ionized Helium)

In astronomy, all elements heavier than helium are called metals

~2%
 proton
The Particle Nature of Matter
p

n neutron
Baryonic
e electron
mass fraction

e
e Hydrogen and Deuterium are isotopes
p n
p
Neutral hydrogen is called HI ~74%
Analogy Ionized hydrogen is called HII
Molecular hydrogen is called H2
H (Hydrogen) D (Deuterium)

e e

n p pnp
p n np
~24%
n p
n
e

Gravitational Force Electrical Force

He (Helium) He+ (singly ionized Helium) He++ (double ionized Helium)

In astronomy, all elements heavier than helium are called metals

~2%
 Fundamental Forces
Question: why doesn’t the nucleus of an atom `blow’ apart. After all, the
electric force between protons expells them from each other. Neutrons are
neutral and therefore don’t feel the electric force.....
Answer: because protons and neutrons are held together by a force which is
even stronger than the electric force, called the strong force.
 Fundamental Forces

Electric & Magnetic

forces are manifestations
of electromagnetism

The Four Fundamental Forces of Physics

Gravity: weakest of them all, but dominates on large scale

Electromagnetism: stronger than gravity, but can be small due to neutral charge
Weak Force: mainly responsible for radioactive decay
Strong Force: holds protons & neutrons together in atomic nucleas, and
binds gluons together to form protons and neutrons
 Quarks & Co
Protons and neutrons are made up of three quarks each, held
together by gluons. There are a total of six different quarks
(known as `flavors’) giving rise to many different particles
(pions, kaons, hyperons, etc.). All of these are unstable (will
decay) except for proton. Quarks can never be isolated; they FLAVOR CHARGE*

always combine to make composite particles (called hadrons). up +2/3

down -1/3
charm +2/3
strange -1/3
top +2/3
bottom -1/3
* electron has charge of -1

Murray Gell-Mann
Entered Yale (JE) at age 15,
1969 Nobel Prize in Physics
The existence of quarks was
proposed by Murray Gell-Mann
in order to put order to the
zoo of elementary particles.
 Quarks & Co
Protons and neutrons are made up of three quarks each, held
together by gluons. There are a total of six different quarks
(known as `flavors’) giving rise to many different particles
(pions, kaons, hyperons, etc.). All of these are unstable (will
decay) except for proton. Quarks can never be isolated; they FLAVOR CHARGE*

always combine to make composite particles (called hadrons). up +2/3

down -1/3
gluon
charm +2/3
strange -1/3
top +2/3
bottom -1/3
* electron has charge of -1

proton neutron
Total charge: Total charge:
Murray Gell-Mann
+2/3 + 2/3 - 1/3 = +1 +2/3 - 1/3 - 1/3 = 0
Entered Yale (JE) at age 15,
1969 Nobel Prize in Physics
Strong force between quarks becomes constant at separations larger than
The existence of quarks was
~hadron (at ~10,000 N). As a consequence, you can’t pull two quarks apart;
proposed by Murray Gell-Mann
the very energy applied to pull two quarks apart will turn into new quarks
in order to put order to the
that pair up again with the original ones. This is called confinement.
zoo of elementary particles.
 Beta-decay

Beta-decay Most hadrons are unstable and will decay

into other hadrons. This occurs because
weak force causes flavor change of quarks.

Important example of such decay is the

beta-decay of a neutron into a proton plus
d!u an electron plus an anti-neutrino. Since
n!p+e+¯ (anti)-neutrino has no electric charge, the
total charge is conserved (ALWAYS!!!)

Beta-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle

(electron or positron) is emitted.

A free neutron has a mean lifetime (before it decays to a proton) of ~15 minutes !!!
However, when neutron is inside a nucleus, bound to protons and other neutrons,
it is stable (i.e., does not undergo beta-decay)....
As far as we can tell, protons are stable (i.e., do not decay into other particles).
 The Standard Model
The Standard Model for Particle Physics is a highly
successful, quantum-field theory, which has been tested
(and verified) in great detail: it describes all of physics
except gravity.

It states that there are three generations of matter,

and four `bosons’ (the force carriers).

It has one `annoying’ problem: it predicts that all

particles have zero mass, and move at the speed of
light (just like the photon)...

The `solution’ to this problem is to postulate that the

vacuum has energy-density, described by a quantum-field
called the Higgs field, after its `inventor’ Peter Higgs.

Actually, was invented by 6 scientists in 1964 (Englert, Higgs, Brout,

Hagen, Guralnik & Kibble), but the name “EHBHGK” didn’t stick....
Peter Higgs
 The Higgs Mechanism
This Higgs field is different than any other field, in that it has no sources.
EM-field is sourced by charged particles (electrons, protons, etc)
strong-field is sourced by quarks
Higgs-field is property of vacuum; it exists even in absence of matter.

The Standard Model for particle physics claims that all particles have zero mass.
However, they have interaction with Higgs field, which slows them down (gives them
mass), similar to you being slowed down if you have to move through water (or syrup)

stronger interaction slower more massive (more inert)

weaker interaction faster less massive (less inert)
no interaction v=c zero mass (e.g., photon)

Energy density of Higgs field has to be constant in space and time, or Universe
would be a mess; changing energy density of Higgs changes all particle masses...

Enough energy density can create `ripples’ in Higgs field, which manifest themselves
as Higgs particles: if Standard Model is correct, Higgs particle (boson) has to exist!
The
The Large
Hunt for
Hadron
the Higgs
Collider
Particle
(LHC)
Last March, scientists
at the LHC announced
they had discovered
(at 4.9σ significance) a
new Boson with a mass
of 125 ± 0.6 Gev.
This most likely is the
awaited Higgs boson.
 Problems with the Vacuum NO
TF
OR
EXA
M

The Cosmological Constant Problem: UNSOLVED

Recent measurements of supernovae have revealed that the cosmological

constant, which represents the energy density of the vacuum is not zero.
The measured energy density of this `dark energy’ is

uΛ ~ 10-9 J/m3

But, we have seen that the vacuum contains the Higgs field, whose
energy density is
uH ~ 10+46 J/m3 ~ 1055 uΛ

If the energy density of Higgs field indeed where that of the vacuum,
the Universe would expand to a billion times its current size in less than
a nanosecond....clearly, this is unacceptable. NEW PHYSICS REQUIRED

ALSO: according to some theorists, the Higgs field could be unstable....

Electromagnetic
Radiation
 Waves
Waves are structures that transport energy associated with (periodic) displacements

Displacement of water due to droplet Displacement of hand attached to rope Displacement of air due to subwoofer

In all these cases, the wave is transported through a medium (water, rope, air)

Electromagnetic (EM) radiation, of which

EM waves light is one form, also consists of waves.
EM waves differ from the other waves above
e
in that they travel through empty space!!

Q: so what is waving?
A: the strength of the electromagnetic
field
 Waves
Waves are characterized by: These parameters are v
=
related according to f
Frequency, f: rate at which the cycles of the wave
motion are repeated [f ] = Hz = s 1
Note: the wave speed is a property of the
Wavelength, : distance between repeated features
medium in which the wave propagates
in the wave pattern [ ] = m
(tension of rope, temperature of air, etc.).
Wave speed, v : speed with which a wave-phase In case of EM waves, the wave speed is the
propagates [v] = m s 1 speed of light: v = c

One distinguishes two types of waves:

Longitudinal waves:
displacement is in same direction
as that in which the wave moves
Example: sound waves, seismic P waves

Transverse waves:
displacement is perpendicular to
direction in which wave moves
Example: water waves, mechanical waves,
EM waves, mexican wave...

Movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoVz2ENJb8M&feature=related
The ElectroMagnetic Spectrum
 The ElectroMagnetic Spectrum

Wavelengths of optical light are

typically expressed in Ångstrom
or nanometer
-10
1 Ångstrom = 1Å = 10 m
1 nanometer = 1nm = 10-9m
red light: λ = 7000 Å = 700 nm
blue light: λ = 4000 Å = 400 nm

Optical light is just one of many types of EM

radiation that only differs from `light’ in its
wavelength. Regular (white) light is a mixture of
light of different wavelengths (different colors).
 The ElectroMagnetic Spectrum

Not all EM radiation reaches the Earth’s surface. In fact, most radiation is
absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere. There are only two `windows’ (wavelength
intervals) for which the radiation reaches the Earth’s surface:
- optical and near-IR
- radio

That is why you will only find optical and radio telescopes on Earth. For all other
wavelength regimes, you need to use balloon’s or satellites.
Answer:
The Andromeda Galaxy in a different light...
Radio
Galaxies from Optical to X-rays
 The ElectroMagnetic Spectrum
Question: What happens if you shine the red light coming out of
the prism through another prism???

?
Prism

Answer: It simply remains red light; it is not dispersed any further...

This experiment, first conducted by Newton, demonstrates
that a prism does not `make the colors’, but that `white’
light is already composed of light of different colors.
 Observing EM Radiation
Optical Telescopes: one distinguishes two types of optical telescopes

Refractor (Galileo) Reflector (Newton)

Virtually all modern telescopes are reflectors.

The newest technologies include active & adaptive optics with laser guidestars.....
The two Keck Telescopes (Mauna Kea, Hawaii)

These are currently the biggest telescopes

on Earth, with a mirror of 10m diameter
The European Very Large Telescope (VLT) array (Paranal, Chile)

Four telescopes of 8.2m diameter each,

which can be combined to mimic a single
telescope of ~16m diameter
 Observing EM Radiation
Radio Telescopes:
Parkes Radio Telescope (Australia)
Arecibo (Puerto Rico)

Radio telescopes typically operate at

GHz frequencies (corresponding to
wavelengths of the order of cm - m)
Radio galaxy, observed with VLA at 6cm

nucleus

jet

radio lobe
Very Large Array (VLA), New Mexico
 Space-Based Observatories
Hubble Space Telescope (optical) GALEX satellite (Ultra-Violet)

Herschell Telescope (IR)

Chandra Telescope (X-ray)
ROSAT (Rontgen)

WMAP satellite (millimeter)

Each wavelength range requires

very different detector technology
 Quantum Physics
&
Emission Mechanisms
 Continuum Radiation
Since vibrating electrons emit EM radiation,
and since any object with an absolute
o
temperature T > 0 K has its electrons
o
vibrating, any object with T > 0 K emits EM
radiation. If the object is a black body (i.e.,
a body that absorbs all incident radiation),
then the radiation has a continuum
spectrum that has a Planck curve.

Planck curve

Conversion between Kelvin (K) Wien’s displacement law 2.9 10 3

and Fahrenheit (F)
Here max is in meters, and T in degrees Kelvin. max =
5 T
K = (F 32) + 273.15
9
9
F = (K 273.15) + 32
5
 Thermal Equilibrium & Black Body Radiation

T 1 > T2 A system is called a black body, and hence emits

continuum radiation with a Planck Spectrum, if it
obeys the following two conditions:
T1 T2 1) the body is in thermal equilibrium
2) it absorbs every incident photon

Opening of valve
establishes Two systems in contact are in thermal equilibrium
thermal equilibrium when there is no exchange of energy between them.
This implies that they have the same temperature.
A single isolated system is said to be in thermal
equilibrium if it has a uniform temperature.
T T
The best known black body in nature, by far, is the
cosmic microwave background.
T 1 < T < T2 Stars are reasonable black bodies, except that they
are surrounded by a cooler atmosphere, and are only
in local thermal equilibrium [i.e. T = T(r)]
 Bremsstrahlung

When a charged particle (i.e., electron) is

accelerated, it emits electromagnetic radiation

This radiation is called bremsstrahlung, which

literally translates into `braking radiation’

Clusters of galaxies contain a large amount

of very hot gas (intra-cluster medium),
which is completely ionized (no atoms; only
free electrons & atomic nuclei). These free
electrons are constantly decelerated by
the nuclei, causing bremsstrahlung, which
is visible as a large halo of X-ray emission.
Image of X-ray emission due to bremsstrahlung
(in purple) of a cluster of galaxies, overlaid on
an optical image.
 Bremsstrahlung

When a charged particle (i.e., electron) is

accelerated, it emits electromagnetic radiation

This radiation is called bremsstrahlung, which

literally translates into `braking radiation’

Problem: If electrons in atom circle nucleus,

they should also emit bremsstrahlung.
Due to this energy loss, they should
p spiral to nucleus.....atoms can’t survive...
radiation =
energy loss
This was a big problem for physics in
e beginning of 20th century....
 *
The Photoelectric Effect
-9
nm=nanometer=10 m Shining green or blue light on potassium, one
notices that free electrons are kicked out....
If the light it red, nothing happens however,
independent of the intensity of the red light!
e e
The (maximum) kinetic energy of liberated
electrons depends on the frequency (=color)
of the incident light.
Einstein won 1921 Nobel Prize
in Physics for this insight

In 1905 Einstein concluded that light must be quantized (birth of quantum physics):
Light is made of quanta, or particles, (called photons), rather than waves.

The photoelectric effect is easy to understand if (i) a threshold energy is required to

liberate an electron, and (ii) the energy of light quanta increases with the frequency of
the light. Bluer light has higher frequency --> more energy per quanta. The energy of red
photons is apparently less than the threshold energy. Quanta of bluer light have more
surplus energy, resulting in a higher kinetic energy of the liberated electrons...

Energy of photon of frequency f is: E = h f

Here f is the frequency of the photon
and h is the Planck constant: h = 6.6 10 m2 kg s
34 1
 Quantum Physics
&
Emission Mechanisms
 Bohr’s atom
In 1913 the Danish physicist Niels Bohr invented a model
for the structure of the hydrogen atom that can explain
the quantized nature of radiation.

He postulated that the single electron can only orbit

the nucleus in a number of discrete (quantized) circular
orbits, each corresponding to a different discrete
(quantized) energy.
Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein discussing
quantum theory in December 1925

e
This solved the bremsstrahlung problem; electron
can’t spiral in, because it only is allowed to have
quantized energy states... p

E1
In modern physics, we believe that ALL atoms
E2
have a shell like structure for their electrons,
E3
with each shell having a discrete energy.
 The Particle-Wave Duality NO
TF
OR
EXA
M
So we have seen that light is an electromagnetic wave, but then we said
that light consists of particles (photons). So what is it, wave or particle?

Answer: both

In fact, elementary particles (electrons, protons, neutrons), are ALSO both

particle and wave. This is evident from famous double-slit experiment
Movie: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3e3_1283308378 (5m12s)

This particle-wave duality of matter & radiation is a strange

aspect of physical reality in the quantum world. Think of
particles (including photons) as small wave packages
(localized waves)...

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle:

certain properties of elementary particles, h
such as position and velocity, cannot be known xm v
simultaneously to arbitrary precision 4
Werner Heisenberg
 Interaction of Light with Matter

Absorption of photon e
E = hf = E2 - E1
e

p p

E1
E2
E3
E 1 < E2 < E 3

e Emission of photon
e

p p
E = hf = E2 - E1

E1
E2

E3
 Emission & Absorption Lines

Absorption Lines: Emissision Lines:

arise when continuum photons from for example arise when continuum photons from for example
a star are absorbed by atoms a star excite atoms in a gas cloud. The electrons
and ions in intervening gas along the line of in an excited state spontaneously fall back to
sight (or in atmosphere of star). Only the lower energy states (ultimately making it back
photons at specific frequencies that excite to ground state), emitting photons at specific
atoms are absorbed. frequencies associated with the transitions.
Spectral Lines: Fingerprints of the Elements

Each element has a unique set of energy-levels. When that element emits or absorbs
photons, it results in a set of spectral lines that are unique to that element;
spectral lines are the fingerprint of an element
 Spectral Lines of Hydrogen
1 electronVolt = 1 eV = 1.6 x 10
-19
J
Since hydrogen is the most common element
-19 in the Universe, it is useful to investigate its
spectral lines up close.

1 1 1
Excited Rydberg Formula: =R
States
n21 n22
Rydberg constant: R = 1.1 107 m 1

n2 > n1 integers indicating energy levels

n1 = 1 Lyman series (Ly)
n1 = 2 Balmer series (H)
n1 = 3 Paschen series (Pa)
Hydrogen lines are indicated by one or two
Ground letters indicating series (Ly, H, Pa, etc),
State
followed by a greek letter, indicating order.
Energy levels of the hydrogen atom with some of the
transitions between them that give rise to the various The first 3 Balmer lines
spectral lines indicated. line n1 n2 (nm)
Hα 2 3 656.3

Ionization of hydrogen requires photons Hβ 2 4 486.1

with a minimum energy of 13.6 eV Hγ 2 5 434.1
 Spectral Lines of Hydrogen
Since hydrogen is the most common element
in the Universe, it is useful to investigate its
spectral lines up close.

1 1 1
Rydberg Formula: =R
n21 n22
Rydberg constant: R = 1.1 107 m 1

n2 > n1 integers indicating energy levels

H H H n1 = 1 Lyman series (Ly)
n1 = 2 Balmer series (H)
n1 = 3 Paschen series (Pa)
H H Hydrogen lines are indicated by one or two
letters indicating series (Ly, H, Pa, etc),
followed by a greek letter, indicating order.

The first 3 Balmer lines

line n1 n2 (nm)
Hα 2 3 656.3

Ionization of hydrogen requires photons Hβ 2 4 486.1

with a minimum energy of 13.6 eV Hγ 2 5 434.1
 Summary: Emission Mechanisms
example:
Continuum Radiation
cosmic microwave background
thermal emission (black body radiation) from
stars (approximately)
objects with non-zero temperature.
dust clouds (low T --> IR)

bremsstrahlung from free electrons in a fully hot intra-cluster medium

or partially ionized (hot) gas. hot gas is fully ionized; electrons
are decelerated by protons

Absorption Lines
cold gas clouds
arise when atoms/ions in relatively cold gas
if seen along line of sight (los)
are excited due to incident radiation. This to a continuum source
removes photons of specific frequencies. stellar atmospheres
relatively cold gas in atmosphere
Emission Lines absorbs continuum radiation from star

arise when electrons in excited atoms decay

star forming regions
to lower excitation levels. This produces young, hot stars excite gas
photons of specific frequencies. NOTE: this in their surroundings
requires radiation/shocks to excite atoms....
The Doppler Effect
The Doppler Effect
The Doppler effect, named after Austrian physicist Cristian Doppler, who proposed it in 1842, is the
change in frequency (and thus also wavelength) of a wave for an observer moving relative to the
source of the wave (i.e. pitch of siren changes when ambulance passes you).

I observe shorter I observe longer

wavelength wavelength
v

The Doppler Effect explained:

When source of waves is moving toward observer, each successive wave crest is emitted from a position closer to the
observer than the previous wave. Therefore each wave takes slightly less time to reach the observer than the previous
wave. Therefore the time between the arrival of successive wave crests is reduced, causing an increase in the frequency.
Conversely, if source of waves is moving away from observer, each wave is emitted from a position farther from the
observer than the previous wave, causing an increase in arrival time between successive waves, reducing the frequency.
 The Doppler Effect
For waves propagating in a medium (e.g., sound waves, water waves), the velocity of observer and source
are relative to medium in which the waves are transmitted. The Doppler effect may therefore result
from motion of the source, the observer, or the medium. For EM waves, which do not require a medium,
only the relative difference in velocity between observer and source needs to be considered.

In ASTR 170 we only consider the Doppler effect for EM waves (e.g. light)

Galaxy not moving wrt Earth:

no Doppler effect

Galaxy receding from Earth: redshift

(spectral lines move to red site)

Galaxy approaching Earth: blueshift

(spectral lines move to blue site)
 The Doppler Effect
We can measure blue/red-shift by comparing observed wavelength, obs , of emission/absorption
lines to their rest-wavelength, 0 , measured in laboratory on Earth

obs 0 v v>0 Object is receding from Earth; redshift

= =
0 0 c v<0 Object is approaching Earth; blueshift

Hence, by measuring the observed

wavelengths of spectral lines in the
spectrum of star we can measure its
speed wrt us along the line-of-sight
(=line connecting us with object).

In case of circular motion, the

wavelength of a spectral line is a
function of time. By measuring
Δλ(t) one can determine the masses
of the objects orbiting each other!!
Example: Measuring the mass of a Black Hole
Physical Situation

Observational Measurement

Period, P
BH
redshift

vc
c

blueshift
blue red

vc
= vc
c

P =
2 r
vc
} radius, r

GMBH } MBH
vc2 =
r
Stars
 Luminosity and Flux
An important property of a star is its luminosity, L, which is the total amount of
energy it radiates per second [L] = J/s = W = Watt

What we observe from a star is

what we call the flux, f. This is
the amount of energy that
reaches our eye/telescope per
unit time per unit surface area of
the detector (eye/telescope).
Another word for flux that is
sometimes used is intensity.

[f] = J s-1 m-2 = W m-2

There is a fixed amount of energy per unit time The luminosity and flux of an
flowing through the cone indicated. At larger L
distances from the source this implies a smaller
object are related to each other f=
via the inverse square law
4 r2
amount of energy per unit time, per unit surface
area. This implies that the flux decreases with
the distance from the source. The inverse-square Here r is the distance to the source: moving an object
scaling with distance follows from the geometry. twice as far away reduces the flux by a factor four.
 Luminosity and Flux

Astronomers are interested in measuring the luminosity of a star (or galaxy).

However, what they can directly measure is only a flux. In order to turn that into
a luminosity, they first need to estimate the distance to the star (or galaxy).

Annual Parallax

L = 4 r2 f

For ~1000 nearest stars, we can use the annual

parallax to determine their distance. For more
distant stars we have to use other, indirect
methods, some of which we will discuss at later
stages....
 The Stefan-Boltzmann Law
Stars are big, gaseous spheres. When we look at a star (e.g., the Sun), most of
the radiation we see (in optical) comes from a thin surface layer, called the
photosphere. We can’t look deeper insider the star, because the photons are
scattered by the ionized atoms in the stellar interior.

To good approximation, photosphere of a star is a Black Body.

As we have seen, Black Bodies of a higher temperature emit
(i) more radiation and (ii) at lower wavelengths (Wien’s law).

Stefan-Boltzmann Law
A black body of temperature, T, emits a flux, f ,
(energy per unit time per unit emitting area) equal to
4
f= SB T
8 2 4
Here SB = 5.7 ⇥ 10 W m K
is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant

Hence, a star with a (photospheric) radius R has a luminosity L = 4 R2 ⇥SB T 4

}
surface area
of the star
 Magnitudes
Unfortunately, astronomers often express fluxes and luminosities in a stupid,
archaic unit-system called magnitudes.
Flux, f, is expressed in terms of an apparent magnitude, m
Luminosity, L, is expressed in terms of an absolute magnitude, M

m= 2.5 log f + C1 Distance Modulus

M= 2.5 log L + C2 m M = 5 log r 5

Here C1 and C2 are two constants Here r is the distance in parsec

Because of the minus-signs in the definitions of magnitudes, an object that

appears brighter (larger flux) has a smaller (more negative) apparent magnitude,
and a more luminous object has a smaller (more negative) absolute magnitude.

Example: Absolute magnitude of Sun is 4.75, while that of the Milky Way is -20.5
Apparent magnitude of Sun is -26.7, while that of Sirius is -1.4, and that
of the Andromeda galaxy is 3.4....
yes, this is stupid and annoying, but so is a government shutdown
 The Physics of Stars
At any given radius inside of a star, there is a competition between gravity, which
pulls the shell inwards (makes it want to collapse), and pressure, which pushes
outwards (makes it want to expand).

Most stars, especially those on the Main Sequence are in a state of equilibrium
(neither noticeably contracting or expanding). This is called hydrostatic equilibrium.

Hydrostatic Equilibrium
In order for a star to be in hydrostatic equilibrium,
the pressure needs to increase with decreasing
radius. Recall that P / T . We therefore expect
that density and/or temperature are higher in core
than at surface....In fact, both density and
temperature increase strongly towards the center.

Tcore = 1.5 ⇥ 107 K

In case of the Sun:
Deeper layers have more gas on top of them and therefore
experience a stronger gravitational compression; they need 5 3
greater outward pressure to compensate core = 1.5 ⇥ 10 kg m
= 150⇢water

Under such extreme conditions, nuclear burning takes place....

 Nuclear Burning: The Energy Source of Stars
At the temperatures and densities in the interiors of stars, Hydrogen (which is
fully ionized) is converted into Helium via a three step process know as the
proton-proton (pp) chain. During this nuclear burning 6H --> He + 2H. Hence,
effectively, one converts 4 Hydrogen nuclei into one Helium nuclei.

-27
Four hydrogen nuclei (protons) weigh 6.69 x 10 kg
-27
One helium nucleus weighs 6.64 x 10 kg
-27
Difference in weight: 0.05 x 10 kg

This tiny amount of mass is converted into energy

according to Einstein’s famous E = mc2 law
-12
Per pp-chain, this results in 4.5 x 10 J

Sun has almost 10 38 pp-chain reactions per second

The pp-chain
resulting in an energy production rate of 3.8 x 1026 W
Note: this reaction requires high temperature and density for This depletes 6.3 x 10 11 kg of hydrogen per second
the protons to overcome their repulsive electromagnetic force, For comparison, mass of Sun is 2 x 10 30 kg....
and to come close enough to each other for the strong force to
take over. Fusion only takes place in core of Sun (inner 25%)...

This energy production heats the core of the Sun, providing the pressure needed to
maintain hydrostatic equilibrium. All this energy ultimately makes its way to the
surface of the star, and is radiated away: L = 3.8 ⇥ 1026 W
 Hydrostatic Equilibrium at Work
Temperature
Energy Production reduces decreases
Energy Production increases

Nuclear Burning
Pressure
rate increases
decreases

Increase in Gravitational
density and contraction
temperature
 Energy Transport
How is energy produced in the central region of star due to nuclear burning
transported to its photosphere, from which it is subsequently radiated away?

In general, there are three mechanisms for transport of heat (thermal energy):

conduction
transfer of vibrational energy (heat) due to
atoms touching each other, but without actual
bulk-motion of the atoms. Requires atoms to
be in close contact. Therefore only important in
extremely dense regions of some stars...

convection
transfer of heat due to bulk motion of atoms
or molecules in a fluid (gas or liquid). Hot fluid
is less dense than cold fluid --> in gravitational
field, hot fluid will rise wrt cold fluid.

radiation
transport of photons (which carry energy)
 Energy Transport in the Sun

In inner 70% of Sun, main mode of heat

transport is radiation.

granules
In outer 30% of Sun, main mode of heat
transport is convection.
Close-up of Sun’s photosphere reveals
sun-spot
the convective bubbles, called granules,
which have average size of ~1000 km

More massive stars have less convection

and more radiation transport....

Question: how long does it take for an average photon to travel from nucleus
of Sun to the base of the convective zone?
Answer: roughly 200,000 years!!! Photons produced in core (due to nuclear burning),
when traveling outward are continuously absorbed and re-emitted by atoms
or scattered by free electrons (Thompson scattering). Once photon reaches
photosphere, it only needs an additional 8min to travel to Earth....
 Thomson Scattering
Thomson scattering is the scattering of photons (electromagnetic radiation)
by free charged particles (mainly electrons).

e e

1 2 3

Photon (local vibration in EM field), when coming close to electron (or

other charged particle), causes electron to vibrate. Effectively this
means the photon has transferred its energy to the electron.
Frequency with which electron now vibrates is exactly the same as the
frequency of the photon. A vibrating charge emits EM radiation. Hence,
our vibrating electron once again emits a photon, with exactly the same
energy as the original photon, but emitted in a random direction.......
 Spectral Types

Based on the spectra of stars, astronomers

have categorized stars in different spectral
types: O, B, A F, G, K & M.

This is mainly a sequence in temperature

(and hence color!): going from blue O stars,
with T~30.000K, to red M stars with
T~3000K

Each of these classes is subdivided in 10

subclasses: O0 - O9, B0 - B9, A0 - A9, etc.
Our Sun is a G2 star, and the temperature
of its photosphere is ~5800K

As we will see, along the sequence

How to remember the Spectral Types?
from O to M, stars also become
O Be
OABeFearsome Gorilla,
A Fine Girl, Kill Me
Kiss Me fainter, less massive, and smaller.
 The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
The Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram is
a diagram in which you plot the luminosity
(or absolute magnitude) of a star vs. its
R
=
10
temperature (or, equivalently, its spectral
R 0R
=
1R class). When plotting many stars in such a
HR-diagram, they fall in separate regions:

R Most stars (~90%) fall on the Main

= Sun
0.0
1R
0
Sequence: these are called main
sequence (MS) stars

In the upper right corner, one finds a

class of stars that are relatively cold for
their luminosity (compared to MS stars).
These are the Giants and SuperGiants.

The yellow lines are lines of constant radius. In the lower left corner, one finds a
Recall that L = 4 R2 ⇥SB T 4 so that for a given
class of stars that are relatively hot for
luminosity & temperature, you obtain a unique radius.
their luminosity (compared to MS stars).
Giants are bigger than main sequence stars,
white dwarfs are smaller than main sequence stars. These are the White Dwarfs.
 Main-Sequence Stars
Main Sequence (MS) stars are stars that are burning hydrogen into helium in
their central region (Sun is a MS star).

Observations have shown that MS stars follow a narrow

relation between mass and luminosity;

L M 3.5
Hence, more luminous stars are more massive....

Using the above relation, we can estimate the lifetime of

stars on the Main Sequence:

amount of hydrogen
lifetime =
rate of hydrogen consumption

amount of hydrogen mass of star = M

rate of hydrogen consumption luminosity of star = L

Spectral Type
M M 2.5
M/M L/L tMS /yr tMS M
O-star 20 35000 5x10
6 L M 3.5
G2-star (Sun) 1 1 1010
Hence, more massive stars have shorter MS lifetimes!!l
M-star 0.2 0.003 6x10 11
 Brown Dwarfs
Stars come in a fairly restricted range of masses: 0.08 M/M 20
Most massive stars are about 20x more massive than Sun. Stars more
massive than this cannot exist because they are unstable (radiation
pressure is too large).

Least massive stars have mass about 8 percent of that of Sun. Stars
less massive than this do not reach sufficient temperatures and
densities in their cores to ignite hydrogen fusion --> brown dwarfs.
 The Evolution of Low Mass Stars
Stage (1)
At some point, star will run out
of H in core, causing nuclear
fusion to come to a halt.

(1) Loss of pressure support causes

core to contract and heat up
(converting grav. potential
energy into thermal energy).

H --> He fusion starts in shell

outside of core. Radiation
pressure due to core + shell
causes outer layers to expand,
cool and become red: star
becomes Red Giant

Main Sequence Star Red Giant Red SuperGiant

MMS < 8M Planetary Nebula White Dwarf

 The Evolution of Low Mass Stars
Stage (2)
(2) Core continues to contract until
density and temperature are
high enough that Helium starts
to fuse into Carbon & Oxygen.
(1)
Once Helium in core is
exhausted, core starts to
contract again, igniting Helium
fushion in second shell (first
shell is still fusing Hydrogen
into Helium). Radiation pressure
from both shells causes further
expansion to Red SuperGiant

Main Sequence Star Red Giant Red SuperGiant

MMS < 8M Planetary Nebula White Dwarf

 The Evolution of Low Mass Stars
Stage (3)
(3)
(2) Strong radiation pressure
starts to expell outer layers
of the SuperGiant, exposing
the much hotter inner regions.
(1)
Radiation from central star
excites atoms in expelled
material, signaling formation
of a Planetary Nebula

Main Sequence Star Red Giant Red SuperGiant

MMS < 8M Planetary Nebula White Dwarf

 The Evolution of Low Mass Stars
Stage (4)
(3)
(2) After H-burning and He-burning
shells are blown away as well,
luminosity drops rapidly.

(4) (1) Surviving core has no nuclear

fusion, and hence no significant
energy production; it slowly
cools over time. At this stage
the star is called a white dwarf

Main Sequence Star Red Giant Red SuperGiant

MMS < 8M Planetary Nebula White Dwarf

Planetary
Nebulae

Mysteriously
Beautiful
 The Evolution of Low Mass Stars

Ignition of
Helium fusion
in core

Core runs out

of Hydrogen

Red Giant Core runs out

of Helium

Main Sequence Star MMS < 8M

Planetary
inert hydrogen Nebula
hydrogen fusion Red SuperGiant
inert helium
helium fusion
inert carbon/oxygen White Dwarf
 The Evolution of Massive Stars
When massive stars run out of
core contraction hydrogen in the nucleus, they
initially behave the same as low
mass stars: they start hydrogen
burning in a shell, and expand,
thus becoming red supergiants.
Core contraction causes ignition
of Helium fushion, until this runs
out and Helium fushion continues
in shell.

Core contracts again, reaching

sufficient conditions to ignite
next fushion reaction....
runs out --> shell burning --> core
contraction --> next fushion.
Continues until core is made out
of iron. Subsequent contraction
does not ignite new fusion, but
results in Supernova Explosion
The Evolution of Massive Stars
When massive stars run out of
core ignition hydrogen in the nucleus, they
initially behave the same as low
mass stars: they start hydrogen
burning in a shell, and expand,
thus becoming red supergiants.
Core contraction causes ignition
of Helium fushion, until this runs
out and Helium fushion continues
in shell.

Core contracts again, reaching

sufficient conditions to ignite
next fushion reaction....
runs out --> shell burning --> core
contraction --> next fushion.
Continues until core is made out
of iron. Subsequent contraction
does not ignite new fusion, but
results in Supernova Explosion
The Evolution of Massive Stars
When massive stars run out of
hydrogen in the nucleus, they
initially behave the same as low
mass stars: they start hydrogen
burning in a shell, and expand,
thus becoming red supergiants.
Core contraction causes ignition
of Helium fushion, until this runs
out and Helium fushion continues
in shell.

Core contracts again, reaching

sufficient conditions to ignite
next fushion reaction....
runs out --> shell burning --> core
contraction --> next fushion.
Continues until core is made out
of iron. Subsequent contraction
does not ignite new fusion, but
results in Supernova Explosion
The Evolution of Massive Stars
When massive stars run out of
hydrogen in the nucleus, they
initially behave the same as low
mass stars: they start hydrogen
burning in a shell, and expand,
thus becoming red supergiants.
Core contraction causes ignition
of Helium fushion, until this runs
out and Helium fushion continues
in shell.

Core contracts again, reaching

sufficient conditions to ignite
next fushion reaction....
runs out --> shell burning --> core
contraction --> next fushion.
Continues until core is made out
of iron. Subsequent contraction
Structure of a massive does not ignite new fusion, but
star, shortly before it results in Supernova Explosion
becomes a supernova
 Fusion vs. Fission

A = number of protons + neutrons

Iron is the most stable element in the Universe:
- elements less massive than iron can produce energy via nuclear fusion (H-bomb)
- elements more massive than iron can produce energy via fission (atomic bomb)
- trying to fuse elements more massive than iron requires energy
- nuclear fusion in stars can only proceed up to iron
 The Crab Nebula
SN of 1054 A.D.
Show this 20min movie in class on SMBHs
Tycho’s Supernova (1572)
Observed by Tycho Brahe
Part of the Vela Supernova Remnant
exploded ~12,000 years ago
 artist’s impression

Supernova 1987A
Large Magellanic Cloud
 Under Pressure
A stellar core in which there is no fusion taking place contracts.
This contraction continues until (i) new fusion reaction starts,
or (ii) a new source of pressure prevents further collapse.

Core collapse ultimately stopped by electron degeneracy pressure

Mcore < 1.4M (“you can’t push electrons too close together”). White dwarfs consist
MMS < 8M of Carbon/Oxygen core supported by electron degeneracy pressure
One sugar cube of white dwarf material weighs ~4000 kg

If core mass is larger than 1.4 Msun (Chandrasekhar limit), electron

degeneracy pressure is insufficient to prevent further collapse. Electrons
1.4M < Mcore < 3.0M & protons are squeezed together and `fuse’ to form neutrons. If core
mass is less than ~3 Msun neutron degeneracy pressure (“you can’t push
8M < MMS < 20M
neutrons too close together”) prevents further collapse: neutronstar
One sugar cube of neutronstar material weighs ~1012 kg

If core mass is larger than ~3 Msun, even neutron degeneracy pressure

Mcore > 3.0M can not prevent gravitational collapse. In fact, nothing can prevent
collapse, and core collapses to form a black hole.
MMS > 20M
One sugar cube of black hole material weighs >1025 kg
 Black Holes
Recall that the escape velocity from an object of
mass M and radius R is given by
r
2GM
vesc =
R

Hence, if such a object collapses (has its radius

decrease), the escape velocity increases.

The radius for which the escape speed is equal to the speed of light is called the
Schwarzschild radius, and is given by 2GM Rs, ' 3 km
Rs = Rs, ' 1 cm
c2

An object whose radius is smaller than Schwarzschild radius is called a Black Hole

The surface R = Rs is called the event horizon: no information from inside the
event horizon can ever get out.
Question: What is inside the event horizon?
Answer: We don’t know, and never will. If object collapses to black hole, no known
force can halt collapse.. collapse proceeds to singularity: ( R = 0, = 1)?
 Black Holes for Movie Buffs

Prof. Charles Bailyn from Yale chasing black holes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw5trKz_kdc&feature=related

Journey into a Black Hole

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI9CvipHl_c&feature=related

The Ultimate Guide to Black Holes (1hr BBC documentary)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF1Ql0a-Lxs&feature=player_embedded

National Geographic: Monster Black Holes (45min documentary)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlsljXCFcRc

Black Hole in the Office (funny)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5_Msrdg3Hk&feature=related
 Stellar
Populations
&
Globular Clusters
 Evolution of Stellar Population
Consider a stellar population of a single age (i.e., all stars of the population formed
at the same time). Shortly after the formation, all stars are on the Main Sequence.

HR diagram of a
single-age stellar
population
 Evolution of Stellar Population
Consider a stellar population of a single age (i.e., all stars of the population formed
at the same time). Shortly after the formation, all stars are on the Main Sequence.

After a few million years, the massive O-

stars run out of hydrogen in their core and
start to move to the right in HR-diagram

HR diagram of a
single-age stellar
population
 Evolution of Stellar Population
Consider a stellar population of a single age (i.e., all stars of the population formed
at the same time). Shortly after the formation, all stars are on the Main Sequence.

After a few million years, the massive O-

stars run out of hydrogen in their core and
start to move to the right in HR-diagram
After O and B stars have gone supernova,
the A and F stars start to leave the MS...

HR diagram of a
single-age stellar
population
 Evolution of Stellar Population
Consider a stellar population of a single age (i.e., all stars of the population formed
at the same time). Shortly after the formation, all stars are on the Main Sequence.

After a few million years, the massive O-

stars run out of hydrogen in their core and
start to move to the right in HR-diagram
After O and B stars have gone supernova,
the A and F stars start to leave the MS...

The G stars are next, slowly emptying out

the MS from top-left to bottom-right.
The population as a whole becomes both
HR diagram of a
single-age stellar fainter and redder as time goes on...
population
 Evolution of Stellar Population
Consider a stellar population of a single age (i.e., all stars of the population formed
at the same time). Shortly after the formation, all stars are on the Main Sequence.

After a few million years, the massive O-

stars run out of hydrogen in their core and
start to move to the right in HR-diagram
After O and B stars have gone supernova,
the A and F stars start to leave the MS...

The G stars are next, slowly emptying out

the MS from top-left to bottom-right.
The population as a whole becomes both
HR diagram of a
single-age stellar fainter and redder as time goes on...
population
Since MS-lifetime of K and M stars are
longer than age of Universe, they still
haven’t turned off from main sequence.
 Evolution of Stellar Population
Consider a stellar population of a single age (i.e., all stars of the population formed
at the same time). Shortly after the formation, all stars are on the Main Sequence.

After a few million years, the massive O-

stars run out of hydrogen in their core and
start to move to the right in HR-diagram
After O and B stars have gone supernova,
the A and F stars start to leave the MS...

The G stars are next, slowly emptying out

the MS from top-left to bottom-right.
The population as a whole becomes both
HR diagram of a
single-age stellar fainter and redder as time goes on...
population
Since MS-lifetime of K and M stars are
longer than age of Universe, they still
haven’t turned off from main sequence.

Stellar Populations that are blue are young (ongoing star formation),
while those that are red are old (star formation has been quenched)
 Globular Clusters
Globular clusters are dense stellar systems, consisting of 10,000 - 100,000
stars that all formed at roughly the same time (large coeval stellar population)

Show this 20min movie in class on SMBHs

Main-Sequence
Turn-Off

The Globular Cluster M55

Illustration of real HR diagrams of various

globular and open star clusters. Clearly, They
span a wide range in ages....
The Milky Way
 Mass-to-Light Ratios
If all stars in a stellar population (i.e. galaxy) are the same as the Sun, then if the
luminosity of the system is L = 1010 L , then its total stellar mass is M = 1010 M
M M
We say that the stellar mass-to-light ratio of the population is =1
L L
If one knows the stellar mass-to-light ratio, one can trivially convert the
luminosity of a stellar population (i.e., galaxy) into a stellar mass. In general,
however, stellar populations do not consist solely of Suns....

M
In general, for a single age stellar population, increases with population age.
L
For realistic stellar populations, stellar mass-to-light ratios cover the range

M M M
0.1 < < 10
L L L
young, blue old, red
population population

Stellar Populations that are blue have low stellar mass-to-light ratios
while those that are red are have high stellar mass-to-light ratios
Galaxies
 Island Universes
In 1610, Galileo Galilei argued, based on his observations with his telescope, that the Milky Way
band consists of many thousands of stars...

In 1750, the English Astronomer Thomas Wright, speculated in his “An original theory or new
hypothesis of the Universe” that the Milky Way might be a rotating body of many, many stars
held together by gravity akin to the Solar system, but on much larger scale. He correctly
interpreted the Milky Way band as a geometric projection effect of being inside....
Note that he did not place the Sun at the center!

In 1755, the German Philosopher Immanuel Kant elaborated on Wright’s ideas and he postulated
(without any proof) that the many nebulae visible through larger telescopes are separate worlds
similar to ours (i.e. the Milky Way). He coined the concept of Island Universes.

Milky Way band

Wright’s
model of
Milky Way
All stars are
located in
between two Thomas Wright
concentric Immanuel Kant
spheres...
 The Messier Catalogue
From 1758 to 1782 the French Astronomer Charles Messier was
trying to find comets, and to prevent wasting his time, he decided
to make a catalog of all `fluffy-looking objects’ that could be
mistaken for comets in small telescopes.

His list contains over 100 diffuse objects (emission nebula, planetary
nebula, supernova remnants, globular clusters & galaxies), and is still
in use today for naming objects...The `M’ stands for Messier. Charles Messier

M1 M13 M31 M27

M57 M42 M100 M51

 Sir William Herschel
German born, English astronomer (1738 - 1822 AD)

Discovered Uranus in 1781 (also discovered 2 moons of Saturn and

2 moons of Uranus)

Composed 24 symphonies, and constructed more than 400 telescopes

Together with his sister Caroline, he made a map of the

Milky Way based on counting stars in every direction.
Assuming a uniform density of stars, this translates
into probing the relative size of the Universe (= Milky
Way) in each direction.

Towards galactic center:

reduced counts due to
Sun absorption by dust

Herschel’s map of the Milky Way

Herschel’s 40-foot telescope
 Jacobus Kapteyn

Dutch Astronomer (1851-1922)

Used extensive observational campaign,

and variety of techniques to probe the
spatial distribution of stars in the Milky
Way.

Similar to Herschel, Kapteyn

underestimated the amount of
interstellar extinction (absorbtion
by dust). This caused him to
underestimate the diameter of the
Milky Way disk by factor ~2.

He placed Sun at ~2000pc from

center of Milky Way
(real distance is ~8000pc)
 The `Great’ Debate
On April 26, 1920 the National Academy of Sciences hosted a
debate between astronomers Harlow Shapley & Heber Curtis
at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington
DC. The issue was the Size of the Universe.

Both astronomers gave a brief talk, and then entered a

debate. They also each published a corresponding paper
describing their opposing views on the size of the Milky Way
Harlow Shapley Heber Curtis and the nature of the nebulae (extra-galactic or not)...

The view of Shapley The view of Curtis

Diameter of Milky Way is ~100 kpc Diameter of Milky Way is ~10 kpc

Distance to galactic center is ~20 kpc Sun is close to galactic center

This large Milky Way is entire Universe; Spiral nebulae are extra-galactic. They
spiral nebulae are population of gaseous are island universes as envisioned by Kant.
objects within it.

Based his arguments on Cepheid distances to globular Based his arguments on observations of novae in spiral
clusters in MW, and on (erroneous) observations of nebulae, assuming they are similar to those in MW.
proper motion in spiral nebulae by Van Maanen. Also argued that spiral nebulae have correct angular
size for extra-galactic objects similar in size to MW.
 Cepheid Variable Stars
Cepheid variables are a special class of
variable stars (stars whose luminosity
varies with time). The variability is
periodic (with typical periods of a couple
of days to months). The variability is
due to radial pulsations of the star
(becoming bigger and smaller).

Cepheids are very important because

they have a tight relation between their
pulsational period and their average
luminosity. Hence, they can be used
as distance indicators

- measure apparent brightness (flux) of Cepheid star as a

function of time, and determine period
- Determine luminosity using empirical period-luminosity relation
- Using inverse-square law between luminosity & flux you can
now determine the distance.
 Edwin Hubble
American Astronomer (1889 - 1953)

Arguably most influential astronomer of 20th century

Settled Shapley-Curtis debate in favor of Curtis

Discovered expansion of the Universe
Introduced classification scheme of galaxies

In 1922-1923 Hubble used the 2.5m

Hooker Telescope on Mount Wilson (the
largest telescope in the world at that
time) to observe the Andromeda galaxy
(M31). He discovered Cepheids, and
using their Period-Luminosity relation
was able to conclusively demonstrate
that M31 was extra-galactic. This once-
and-for-all settled the Shapley-Curtis
debate, and signaled the birth of
extra-galactic astronomy.
 bar

S`zero’, not SO!

Disks without spiral
structure

“Early-Types” “Late-Types”
 Galaxy Bimodality

Late-Type Galaxies Early-Type Galaxies

Disk-like morphology, often with central Spheroidal morpology. Blend, smooth

bulge component, spiral arms and/or bar appearance with little substructure

Blue colors, indicative of young stellar Red colors, indicative of old stellar
populations --> ongoing star formation populations --> quenched star formation
and small stellar mass-to-light ratios and large stellar mass-to-light ratios

Presence of dust and gas (mainly atomic

and molecular hydrogen) Virtually free of both dust and gas

Prevalent in relatively isolated Prevalent in dense environments (clusters)

environments (“the field”)
 What are Galaxies?
Definition: A galaxy is a gravitationally bound system that consists of stars,
brown dwarfs, stellar remnants, and often an interstellar medium
consisting of gas & dust.

Spiral Galaxy Elliptical Galaxy Globular Cluster

Note: Although globular clusters obey the definition given above,

they are NOT considered to be galaxies. Later we will
therefore revise our definition of a galaxy.
 The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)
In 2000, a large worldwide collaboration of hundreds
of astronomers started an ambitious project, to
obtain deep, multi-waveband images (to measure
colors) and spectra of 1 million galaxies.

The project used a dedicated 2.5 meter telescope

at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico,
and took 8 years to complete.

Currently, a follow-up project is underway using

the same telescope but with new and improved
The 2.5m telescope at Apache Point
detectors, in order to probe the galaxy distribution Observatory (New Mexico)
at even larger distances....Yale is a proud member of
this collaboration.

The SDSS has revolutionized extra-galactic astronomy, and provided the

astronomical community with many years of work to analyze all the data....
Typical Spectrum of a Red Galaxy
 The Bewildering Variety of Galaxies
Galaxies display a bewildering variety of shapes, colors, sizes and luminosities.

103 L < L < 1012 L (LMW 5 1010 L )

Galaxies with L < 109 L are typically called dwarf galaxies.

They typically appear as smudges of star-light on

photographic plates. Since they are so faint, and have
such low surface brightness, they are very difficult to
detect. Even at the present day, we continue to detect
dwarf galaxies in our nearby environment... The Carina dwarf galaxy
 The Bewildering Variety of Galaxies
Galaxies display a bewildering variety of shapes, colors, sizes and luminosities.

103 L < L < 1012 L (LMW 5 1010 L )

Galaxies with L < 109 L are typically called dwarf galaxies.

L(<r)
They typically appear as smudges of star-light on
photographic plates. Since they are so faint, and have
such low surface brightness, they are very difficult to
detect. Even at the present day, we continue to detect
dwarf galaxies in our nearby environment... The Carina dwarf galaxy
re r
flux per square degree on the sky

Galaxy sizes: galaxies don’t have sharp edges. Therefore, sizes are often defined
as radii that encompass a certain fraction of the entire flux. The
most often used radius is the effective radius, Re , defined as the
radius enclosing half the total flux (also called half-light radius).

0.1 kpc < Re < 10 kpc (Re,MW 5 kpc)

 Galaxy Dynamics

Stars in spheroidal components

Disk stars are mainly on close to
(bulge, halo) have no (significant) net
circular orbits. Net sense of rotation.
sense of rotation.

NOTE: Disk orbits are not perfect ellipses, as around point mass.
This is due to fact that mass distribution is extended, and
that disk is not spherically symmetric.

Gas cannot be on self-intersecting orbits, since

this would cause shocks (gas would lose angular
momentum and fall to center of galaxy). Hence, points of
intersection
gas can only move on circular orbits.

Rotation velocity of gas reflects circular velocity.

face-on view of typical disk orbit
 21 cm emission from Neutral Hydrogen
Protons, electrons and neutrons have spin.
Hydrogen atoms in which proton & electron have
p e aligned spins has slightly more energy than one
in which spins of proton & electron are anti-aligned.
When spin flip occurs, photon is emitted with a
wavelength of 21cm (in radio).

p e

Radio observations at 21cm are ideally

suited to probe neutral gas distribution
in galaxies. Using Doppler effect, we
can also use 21cm observations to probe
the rotation of a galaxy. Since gas has
to be on circular orbits the motion of
neutral gas in a galaxy reflects circular
velocity Vcirc (r) Distribution of neutral
hydrogen in Milky Way
 21 cm emission from Neutral Hydrogen
Protons, electrons and neutrons have spin.
Hydrogen atoms in which proton & electron have
p e aligned spins has slightly more energy than one
in which spins of proton & electron are anti-aligned.
When spin flip occurs, photon is emitted with a
wavelength of 21cm (in radio).

p e

Radio observations at 21cm are ideally

suited to probe neutral gas distribution
in galaxies. Using Doppler effect, we
can also use 21cm observations to probe
the rotation of a galaxy. Since gas has
to be on circular orbits the motion of
neutral gas in a galaxy reflects circular
velocity Vcirc (r) Distribution of neutral
hydrogen in Milky Way
Measuring Rotation Curves Consider a disk galaxy. We can
measure its rotation curve by
probing the line-of-sight velocities
using emission and/or absorption
lines and the Doppler effect.

obs 0 v
R = =
0 0 c

Vc

Rotation Curve
redshift blueshift
0
Correcting for inclination angle

b to observer

i o
Face-on; i=0

The angle i is called the inclination angle.

Vobs = Vcirc sin i

Hence, one can obtain circular velocity from

observed velocity along line-of-sight, as long as
one knows inclination angle. One can estimate i
o
from the observed flattening: Edge-on; i=90

b
cos i = b
a
a
Here a and b are the semi-major and semi-
minor axes, respectively. Circular disk appears elliptical
due to non-zero inclination angle
 The Discovery of Dark Matter
In 1978, Vera Rubin took spectra of some
Vera Rubin
analyzing spectra
nearby disk galaxies, and measured their
Vera Rubin
rotation curves (using the Hα line to probe
the dynamics of the gas).

To her surprise, and that of everyone else, there was no

expected Keplerian decline at large radii. Rather, the
rotation curves remained flat out to last measured point.

RVc2 (R)
M (< R) =
G
Vc Hence, the fact that the rotation curve is flat
observed (i.e., Vc (R) = constant), implies that M (< R) R

Thus, when going to larger and larger radii from the

center of a galaxy, the enclosed mass continues to
expected increase, even though there is no light (no stars).

This alleged matter that we can’t

R see directly is called Dark Matter
 Evidence for Dark Matter

NGC 3198

Keplerian fall-off

Contours show distribution of neutral

hydrogen as probed by 21cm emission

dark matter halo

2 GM (< R) G [Md (< R) + Mh (< R)]
Vc (R) = =
R R
M
Disk contribution: Md (< R) = L(< R) disk galaxy
L
The enclosed mass of the dark matter halo, Mh (< R),
follows from rotation curve...
The Milky Way
 Dark Matter in the Milky Way
The distance to the Galactic Center is RGC = 8kpc
Velocity with which Sun is circling Galactic Center is vrot = 220 km/s
2 RGC
Period in which the Sun goes around Galactic Center: P = = 2.4 ⇥ 108 yr
vrot
2
RGC vrot
Mass enclosed within distance to GC: M (< RGC ) = = 9 ⇥ 1010 M
G

The enclosed mass within this radius is:

M (< R) ' 5 ⇥ 1011 M

The enclosed luminosity within this radius is:

L(< R) ' 3 ⇥ 1010 M

M M
(< R) 17
L L

Too high for a stellar population!

Dark Matter
The Ubiquity of Dark Matter
All galaxies that astronomers have
looked at in detail reveal flat (or
rising) rotation curves out to the
largest radii probed.

This suggests that all galaxies

are embedded in large haloes of
dark matter...
 The Ubiquity of Dark Matter
All galaxies that astronomers have
looked at in detail reveal flat (or
rising) rotation curves out to the
largest radii probed.

This suggests that all galaxies

are embedded in large haloes of
dark matter...

Since each dark matter halo is more massive than the galaxy which it hosts, this
suggests that most matter in the Universe is dark!

The One Million Dollar Question: what is “dark matter”??

 What are Galaxies?
Definition: A galaxy is a gravitationally bound system that consists of stars,
brown dwarfs, stellar remnants, an interstellar medium (gas & dust)
and an important but poorly understood component tentatively
dubbed dark matter.

dark matter halo

star forming disk

old spheroidal component

globular cluster

Note: Globular clusters are NOT galaxies, since they do not seem to
have any dark matter.
 Spiral Structure
Consider the (roughly) circular motion in a disk:

Vc (R)
(R) =
R
Vc (R) is constant (flat rotation curves)

1 2
(R) / R P = /R
⇥

Hence, stars and gas on smaller radii take less

time to complete an orbit. This aspect is called
differential rotation.

Now consider a cloud of gas in which new stars

are forming (i.e., blue blob in figure).
Because of differential rotation, this blob will
be sheared into a spiral arm, consisting of
young stars;

differential rotation --> spiral arms Illustration of the spiral winding problem in a differentially
rotating disk: a small patch is, over time sheared into a long
and thin spiral arm. After only a few rotations arms are
But there is a problem.....
sheared beyond recognition...
 Spiral Structure
Differential Rotation can explain some spiral structure we see,
but only if spiral arms are continuously being created...

We believe that this is the case in spiral galaxies in which the

spiral structure is messy, with multiple arms that cannot be
traced over large parts of the disk. Such spirals are called
flocculent spirals.
A flocculent spiral
Movie: flocculent spiral http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPbX1_C_I6o

However, some spirals have very pronounced spiral structure,

with spiral arms that can be traced over large parts of the
disks. These are called Grand-Design spirals, and they cannot
be formed in the same way as flocculant spirals...

In 1964, Lin & Shu proposed an alternative theory for creating

Grand-Design spiral structure: Spiral Density Wave Theory
A Grand-Design spiral
 Spiral Density Wave Theory
In spiral density wave theory it is assumed that
due to some perturbation the closed orbits (the
ones followed by the gas) become elliptical, and
that their orientations are correlated.

If the ellipses are rotated wrt each other, a

spiral pattern emerges due to orbit crowding.

aligned ellipses --> bar rotated ellipses --> spiral In this picture, stars and gas clouds
overtake (or are overtaken) by the
density wave, but are not continuously
part of it. A good analogy is the knot
of traffic around a slow moving truck:
the enhancement of traffic moves
forward, but at each time consists of
different cars...

Note that this is different from

flocculant spiral arms (also called
material arms), in which the spiral is
always made-up of same material.

Movie of spiral density wave http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B9i4vjj5D4&feature=related

Spiral Density Wave Theory
The Grand-Design Spiral M51

Question: but how do spiral density waves form???

Answer: we are not exactly sure, but it may be

that they are triggered by gravitational
interactions with nearby galaxies...(e.g. M51)

did the interaction trigger the density wave?

Question: If grand-design spirals are

indeed spiral density waves, in which
stars and gas are continuously moving in
and out of the spiral arms, then why do
young (blue) stars preferentially reside
in spiral arms?

Answer: Because density is enhanced

in the spiral arms (due to orbit
crowding). Hence, when a gas cloud
moves into a spiral arm, it gets
compressed, which promotes star
formation.
Simulation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD9OV1Zrs4I
 Disk Stability
In the 1970s computers became
sufficiently powerful that astronomers
could run numerical N-body simulations
of disk galaxies. Starting from an initial
distribution of N point masses (where N
is large) that resembles a disk galaxy,
one computes each time-step the
gravitational force on each point mass
from all the other point masses (i.e. one
solves the equations of motion for all
N point masses due to gravity).

To their surprise, astronomers found that self-gravitating

disks are violently unstable. In one or two rotations they
`self-destruct’. In 1973, Jeremiah Ostriker & Jim Peebles
(Princeton) suggested that disk stability requires them to
be embedded in a massive halo (of faint stars...). Today we
consider the instability of disks another argument in favor
of dark matter haloes around (disk) galaxies. Jeremiah Ostriker Jim Peebles
 Disk Stability
At the present day astronomers use large
and powerful supercomputers to simulate
disk galaxies, consisting of stars and gas,
embedded in massive dark matter haloes.

These simulations, using millions of particles,

show that spiral structure and bars develop
“automatically”, due to small instabilities.

A simulated disk galaxy....

Hence, spiral structure and bars are

natural features of disk galaxies.

Movie: Spiral Galaxy simulation with gas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v39UtTfOHAU&feature=related

Movie: Bar formation in disk with gas

...looking very realistic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L16m5Vg5LbA
Active Galaxies
&
SuperMassive
Black Holes
 Radio Galaxies
nucleus
In 1940s astronomers discovered class of galaxies that
jet
are surprisingly luminous at radio wavelenghths; these are
called radio galaxies, and typically emit millions of times
more energy in radio waves than does a normal galaxy.
radio lobe
Radio galaxies often consist of a bright nuclear source at
the center of the galaxy, two blobs (the radio lobes) that
are offset from the central galaxy, and jets that connect
the nucleus with the lobes.

This clearly suggest that these structures are powered

by something in the central region of these galaxies...

Synchroton
Radiation

Radio emission arises

when charged particles
are accelerated by a
(strong) magnetic field.
Such radiation is called
synchroton radiation
 Quasars
stars in MW In 1960s astronomers discovered point-like radio
sources. Although they look like stars, it was
clear they are not: they were called Quasi-Stellar
Radio Sources (quasars for short). Their spectra
revealed emission lines that no one had ever seen
quasars before; at least, so it seemed...

normal galaxies

....until Dutch astronomer Maarten Schmidt from CalTech discovered that

the spectrum is familiar but is simply redshifted by a huge amount....
This implies that quasars are very, very far away (further than most
galaxies), and therefore also that they are intrinsically extrememly bright
(luminosities that 1000x that of MW).
 Quasars Comparison of spectra of star and quasar

Today we have discovered thousands and thousands of

quasars; because of their extreme luminosities, they
normal star
can be seen out to very large distances. Quasars emit
at all frequencies, from the radio to X-rays, and their
spectra look nothing like that of a galaxy (=stars).
Another property of quasars is that their brightness
quasar
varies: In X-rays, it can go up and down by a factor of
a few on time-scales of days. This implies that the
quasar engine (the source that produces the energy) is
smaller than a few light-days across!!!

It takes at least a timescale

R
t = cR
for a source of size R to
increase its brightness by
a significant amount

Deep imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope

has shown that quasars are the nuclei of galaxies,
but that these galaxies, in many cases, have very
distorted morphologies...
 Active Galaxies
Radio galaxies and Quasars are subclasses of what are called Active Galaxies. In general,
an active galaxy is a galaxy that emits excessive radiation that cannot be due to stars.
Since most of this excessive emission originates from the nuclei of these galaxies, they
are also sometimes called AGN (for Active Galactic Nucleus).

We believe that AGN are powered by matter accreting onto

supermassive black holes with masses in the range

106 M < MBH < 109 M OCCAM’S RAZOR

To quote Isaac Newton, "We are to admit no more causes of
natural things than such as are both true and sufficient to
This is based on the following facts: explain their appearances. Therefore, to the same natural
effects we must, so far as possible, assign the same causes."
emission comes from very small region
- immediately evident from radio images
- variability on time-scale t implies that source has size R < c t
motion of stars and/or gas in nuclei imply presence of very massive object.
In a few cases we have been able to convincingly prove that it has to be a massive
black hole: Occam’s razor then suggests that it must ALWAYS be a black hole

we simply don’t know an alternative source that can produce such amounts of energy
 Black Hole Demographics
Universe too young
to make quasars
Number density of quasars

Astronomers have found that the number density of

for some reason quasar
quasars is a strong function of time. In the past
activity diminishes (~8-10 Gyrs ago) the number density was few
hundred times larger than today (after correction
for expansion of Universe). Since we don’t believe
that Black Holes can disappear, their must be many
now dormant black holes in present day Universe. Since
AGN are in nuclei of galaxies, we expect these
2 4 6 8 10 12
dormant black holes to be at centers of `normal’
time since Big Bang (in Gyr)
galaxies....

This has been confirmed; in every galaxy we look at we find

evidence for the presence of a supermassive black hole.

The Black Hole Paradigm

All galaxies have a central supermassive black hole
Mass of BH is proportional to the mass of the bulge/spheroid
Whether a galaxy is active or not, simply depends on whether it
happens to be accreting (significant) amounts of matter

Movie on SMBHs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCADH3x56eE

 The SMBH of the Milky Way
halo

disk bulge

At the very center of the Milky Way,

astronomers have discovered a supermassive
black hole with a mass of 3 million Solar masses.
Albert Einstein
(1879-1955)
 Einstein’s Legacy

Reformulated concepts of space and time (Special Relativity)

Space and time are not absolute quantities (time dilation & Lorentz contraction)

E = mc2 ; paved the way to atomic energy (and atomic bomb)

Opened the road to Quantum Mechanics

Light consists of particles (photons)

Photons have quantized, discrete energies depending on their wavelengths

Presented new theory of gravity (General Relativity)

Matter tells space how to curve; Space tells matter how to move

Provided the foundations for modern cosmology

 Einstein’s Childhood
Einstein was born on March 15, 1879 in Ulm, Germany as
the son of Hermann and Pauline Einstein, two “entirely
irreligious Jewish parents”
Albert Einstein in a class
Hermann Einstein
photo of his high-school in
Munich, in 1889. He hated
high-school because of the
“memorization and obedience
to arbitrary authority”. He
studied his own interests at
home (math, philosophy,
Pauline Einstein geometry...).

According to Einstein himself, his first scientific insight occurred at

age 5, when his father showed him a compass. “I realized that
something in empty space acted upon the needle”. He later called this
one the revealing events of his life....
One of his uncles was an engineer who stimulated Einstein’s curiosity.

Albert Einstein in his teens

 High-School to University
A teacher at his high-school in Munich suggested that Einstein leave school since “his very
presence destroyed the other student’s respect for the teachers”. Einstein indeed quit school
at age 15, and joined his parents for a trip to Italy for “a glorious half year of freedom”.

In 1895 he took entrance examination at the Swiss

Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, but
he failed. He was advised to study at a school in
Aarau (Switserland), which he did. At this school the
teachers were humane and his ideas were set free:
He studied Maxwell’s theory of Electromagnetism...

Einstein with class at Aarau

ETH Zurich

After successfully finishing the school in Aarau,

Einstein enrolled at ETH. There he worked hard,
but mainly on his own (he didn’t like lectures).
Fortunately, his good friend Marcel Grossman, took
excellent notes and shared them with Einstein, who
later wrote: “I would rather not speculate on what
would have become of me without these notes”
 The Patent Office
After graduating from ETH (with no exceptional grades), he failed to get a job in
academia: he irritated all professors, who therefore didn’t help him in getting a job...

In 1902 he finally got a job in the patent office in Bern.

It was "a kind of salvation," he said. The regular salary and the
stimulating work evaluating patent claims freed Einstein. He now had
time to devote his thought to the most basic problems of physics of his
time, and began to publish scientific papers. In the evenings he would
meet with some friends (they called themselves `Olympia Academy’) in
the bars of Bern to discuss physics; he used these opportunities to try
out his outlandish ideas...

The Patent Office in Bern

1905 Annus Mirabilis

Olympia Academy
In 1905, while still working at the patent office in Bern,
Einstein published 4 papers that changed the world:
March: Light consists of quanta (Nobelprize 1921) Einstein’s Academic Carreer
May: Brownian motion (Einstein’s thesis topic) 1909 Associate Prof. at Univ. of Zurich
June: Special Relativity (new concepts of space & time) 1912 Professor at ETH
1914 Prussian Academy of sciences (Berlin)
Sept: E=mc2 (atomic energy & atom bomb)
1933 Princeton (IAS)
 Special Relativity

Common sense is the collection of prejudices

acquired by age eighteen......(A. Einstein)
 Inertial Frames, Invariance & Covariance
A frame of reference is a standard relative to which motion and rest may be measured.
Any set of points or objects that are at rest with respect to each other can serve as a
frame of reference (i.e., coordinate system, WLH 208, Earth).

An inertial frame is a frame of reference that has a constant velocity with respect to
the distant stars, i.e., it is moving in a straight line at a constant speed, or it is standing
still. It is a non-accelerating frame, in which the laws of physics take on their simplest
forms, because there are no fictitious forces.

A non-inertial frame is a frame of reference that is accelerating. In a non-inertial frame

the motion of objects is affected by fictitious forces, such as centrifugal force.

An invariant is a property or quantity that remains unchanged under some transformation

of the frame of reference (i.e., charge of an electron, Planck’s constant)

Covariance is the invariance of the physical laws or equations under some transformation
of the frame of reference.
 Newtonian Relativity
Galileo, and later Newton, realized that in an inertial frame there is no physical experiment
that can reveal the velocity of that inertial frame.

v The outcome of every experiment done by stickman is

completely independent of the velocity of his inertial
frame. When he throws his ball up in the air, it looks
exactly the same as if he was at rest wrt distant stars...
The windowless Lab

You may be familiar with this concept; while waiting in the train at a station, the train
next to you starts to move....a second later you suddenly realize that it is your train
that is moving, not the one on the track next to yours.

This argues against the notion of absolute velocity; only relative motion is measurable
in physics. This concept that there is no such thing as absolute velocity is called
Newtonian relativity.

All uniform motion is relative

 Newtonian Relativity
Two inertial frames of references, having a speed of v wrt each other, are related by
the Galilean transformation rules:

y y
v x =x vt
y =y
z =z Note: time is
A B t =t an invariant
x x
z z

Newtonian relativity says that the physical laws are covariant under Galilean transformation;
if you are not covariant under Galilean transformation, you cannot be a physical law...

This means that if a physical law describes the motion of an object in reference frame A,
and it predicts an orbit x(t), then the orbit as seen by an observed in reference frame B
is given by x’(t’) = x’(t) = x(t) - v t

It also means that if an observer in A sees an object move in the x-direction with
velocity u, then an observer in reference frame B sees it move with a velocity u’ = u-v
(addition rule of velocities).
 James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)
Scottish Physicist who formulated the (classical) theory of
Electromagnetism, which had a huge influence on Einstein’s thinking.....

Prior to Maxwell the observed behavior of magnets (i.e., compasses)

and electricity were thought to have nothing to do with each other.
Maxwell (~1870) proposed that magnetism, electricity and light were
all aspects of the same underlying set of physical laws: ElectroMagnetism

Maxwell came up with a set of 4 beautiful equations that

completely describe all electrical and magnetic phenomena,
and which describe electromagnetic waves (i.e. light).

But, Maxwell’s laws are NOT covariant under Galilean

transformations...In fact, according to these laws the
speed of light, c, is an invariant, whereas according to
Newtonian relativity velocities are relative, and
transform according to the addition rule....
 The Luminiferous Aether
Maxwell’s law not being covariant under Galilean transformation constitutes a problem
since it violates Newtonian relativity.....

Three alternative conclusions can be drawn:

Maxwell’s equations are simply wrong

Maxwell’s equations are valid in only ONE inertial frame. Hence, the Newtonian
relativity principle is inapplicable.

Maxwell’s equations do obey principle of relativity, but relationship between

inertial frames is not given by Galilean transformation.

At end of 19th century, almost all physicists accepted the second of these alternatives:
it was thought that like all mechanical waves, electromagnetic waves needed some
medium for propagation, the luminiferous aether (not to be confused with Aristotle’s
aether). Maxwell’s equations were only deemed valid in the inertial frame that is at rest
with respect to this aether, and electromagnetic waves propagate with a speed c with
respect to this aether.

But, if an aether exists and is at rest wrt absolute space, and if light moves with constant
speed wrt aether, then one should be able to detect absolute motion of an inertial frame;
it should reveal itself as directional dependence of speed of light wrt the inertial frame
 The Michelson-Morley Experiment
vs
O1 vsound = vs In 1887, Albert Michelson and Edward Morley
O2 vsound = vs + v conducted an ingenious experiment to try an
v measure the speed of Earth wrt the aether; i.e.,
sound
the tried to measure differences in the speed of
c light in different directions....
O1 vlight = c
O2 vlight = c + v
v
light

d
 The Michelson-Morley Experiment
vs
To everyone’s surprise, they could not detect any
O1 vsound = vs
variations in the speed of light, whereas their
v O2 vsound = vs + v experiment was sensitive enough to at least
sound detect motion of Earth around Sun (30 km/s).
Implication: speed of light is constant
c
O1 vlight = c
O2 vlight = c + v
v
light

d
 The Michelson-Morley Experiment
vs
O1 vsound = vs To everyone’s surprise, they could not detect any
variations in the speed of light, whereas their
O2 vsound = vs + v
v experiment was sensitive enough to at least
sound
detect motion of Earth around Sun (30 km/s).
c Implication: speed of light is constant
O1 vlight = c
O2 vlight = c + v
v
light

d
 Special Relativity
Unlike most physicists at his time, Einstein accepted the results from the
Michelson-Morley experiment, which led to his development of SR:

The two postulates of Special Relativity:

All laws of physics are the same for all inertial observers
The speed of light is the same for all inertial observers

Implications
There is no luminiferous aether.

No material object can travel at, or faster than, the speed of light: c = 300,000 km/s
Inertial frames do not transform according to Galilean transformation, but according
to the Lorentz transformation, which leave the Maxwell equations invariant

x0 = (x vt) v⌧c! '1 x =x vt

y =y 1
=q y =y
z =z 1 v 2
z =z
c
t0 = (t [v/c2 ]x) t =t
Lorentz transformations Galilean transformations
 Special Relativity; more implications
Space and Time are interwoven into space-time.
Space-time intervals are invariant; space intervals or time intervals are not.

space-time invariant: s 2 = c 2 t2 x2 + y2 + z2

Time dilation: the observed passage of time becomes slower for a moving object.
This is not just an illusion, time really passes more slowly traveling at high speed: if you
travel to a star 10 ly away at 99% of speed of light, it only takes you 1.4 years...

Lorentz Contraction: observed length along line of motion of moving object becomes less
than its length when measured at rest. In the above example, you, in your spaceship see
the distance to the star to be only 1.4 ly, so you are not surprised reaching it in 1.4 years

The USS enterpris,

E = mc2 ; zooming
(mass through
is a formspace at 70 percent of speed of light, shoots an ion beam with speed 0.8c towards
of energy, and vice versa). This principle powers stars...
David Hasselhoff (can you think of a better target???). At what speed will the ion beam impact and pulverize Mr. H ?

Velocities do not add linearly.... Newton: 0.7c + 0.8c = 1.5c

0.7c Einstein: 0.7c + 0.8c --> 0.96c

0.8c
Curved Space
 Geometry

Geometry (Ancient Greek: γεωµετρία;

geo- "earth", -metri "measurement")
"Earth-measuring" is a branch of
mathematics concerned with questions
of shape, size, relative position of
figures, and the properties of space.

In ancient civilizations it was the art of land measurements, and it was used
in the construction of mammoth works such as the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The Babylonians of 2000 BC and the Chinese of 300 BC used the rule that
the circumference of a circle is three times its diameter (i.e., π = 3).
The Egyptians of 1800 BC used π = (16/9) 2 = 3.1605...

It where the Greeks who developed geometry into a science that

climaxed in the axiomatic and definite treatise presented by Euclid.
 Euclidean Geometry
Euclid (ca 300 BC)
Lived in Alexandria (Egypt)
Greek mathematician; considered “father of Geometry”
Wrote Elements, of which more copies have been sold
than any other textbook in history

In the Elements, Euclid starts with a set of five axioms (a proposition

that is not proved but considered self-evident), from which he derives
and proves a large number of theorems about geometry.

One of Euclid’s five axioms is the

parallel axiom (or postulate), which
was considered the least self-
evident of them all.
Some of Euclid’s theorems
 Euclidean Geometry
The following “rules” you probably (hopefully) learned in highschool:

1) The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

2) Parallel lines never intersect
3) The circumference of a circle is 2π times its radius
4) The (interior) angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees
5) Theorem of Pythagoras: c 2 = a 2 + b2

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

l β
r c
a
α γ b

shortest distance parallel l=2πr α + β + γ = 180o a2 + b 2 = c2

A space whose geometry is such that the above rules apply, is called a Euclidean space, or a flat
space. Note that the meaning of the word `flat’ here is different from everyday usage of that
word: a flat space is not necessarily two-dimensional, like a sheet of paper; a flat space is any
space that obeys the above rules of Euclidean geometry.
 (non)-Euclidean Geometry
For over two thousand years, the adjective "Euclidean" was unnecessary because no other sort of
geometry had been conceived. Euclid's axioms seemed so intuitively obvious that any theorem
proved from them was deemed true in an absolute, often metaphysical, sense.

The reason for this is Euclid’s fifth postulate; the parallel postulate, which implicitly restricts the
geometry to flat (i.e. non-curved) spaces. It wasn’t until the beginning of the 19th century before
mathematicians started to construct non-Euclidean geometries for curved spaces, in which Euclid’s
fifth postulate does not hold.

A defining breakthrough in non-Euclidean geometry was a lecture by the

German mathematician Bernhard Riemann in 1854, which signaled the birth
of Riemannian geometry; the geometry of `smooth’ manifolds (i.e. spaces)
of arbitrary curvature (which is allowed to vary from one point to the
other in a smooth fashion).

Bernhard Riemann

Examples of Riemannian manifolds

 Curvature

For a path, the curvature, K, reflects how fast the path changes direction: A circle of radius r has a
curvature K = 1/r. So a small circle has large curvature and a large circle has small curvature:

Small radius, large curvature Large radius, small curvature

In general, curvature is a local parameter, which can vary from point to point: The local curvature
derives from the radius of the circle that best matches the curve locally;

At this point, the local

curvature is K = 1/r with r
the radius of the circle that At this point the
best matches the curve curvature K is very
locally. large, as reflected by
the small circle.
 Dimensions & Dimensionality
The dimensionality of a space is the number of coordinates needed to describe
the location of a point in that space:
a hair n=1 (n=3)
a piece of paper n=2 (n=3)
Try yourself: what is the dimensionality of a solid sphere n=3
surface of a sphere n=2
Einstein’s space-time n=4
n-Dimensional Space:
An n-dimensional space (or space-time) can be finite or infinite, and flat or curved.
If it is flat, we say it has n-dimensional Euclidean geometry, if it is curved, we say
it has n-dimensional Riemannian (or non-Euclidean) geometry.

Examples: line: infinite, 1-dimensional flat (Euclidean) space

line segment: finite, 1-dimensional flat (Euclidean) space
circle: finite, 1-dimensional curved (non-Euclidean) space
sheet: (in)finite, 2-dimensional flat (Euclidean) space
surface of a sphere: finite, 2-dimensional curved (non-Euclidean) space
surface of a Pringle chip: finite, 2-dimensional curved (non-Euclidean) space
absolute space according to Newton: infinite, 3-dimensional flat (Euclidean) space
Einstein’s space-time in SR: infinite, 4-dimensional flat (Euclidean) space
Universe: ????

Movie: Dr. Quantum visits flatland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWyTxCsIXE4

 Curved Space
In the realm of Riemannian manifolds, we distinguish
manifolds that are positively curved, flat (=Euclidean)
and negatively curved.

Flat Space Positive Curvature Negative Curvature

distance between parallel lines parallel lines cross each other distance between parallel lines
is everywhere the same diverges

β β
β
α γ α γ
α γ
o
o α + β + γ > 180 α + β + γ < 180
o
α + β + γ = 180

circumference = 2 π r circumference < 2 π r circumference > 2 π r

parallel transport of vector parallel transport of vector parallel transport of vector

independent of path taken depends on path taken depends on path taken
 Drawing Dimensions
In Euclidean geometry, we can easily draw 1D and 2D object on a sheet of paper.
If we have to draw 3D objects, we try to use shadowing, or perspective to give
the impression of a third dimension...Drawing 4D objects is virtually impossible....

In Riemannian geometry, we can easily draw 1D curved objects on a sheet of

paper: one dimension is used to reflect the extent along the object, the second
dimension is used to draw the curvature. Drawing 2D curved spaces/objects on
paper is equivalent to drawing 3D flat spaces/objects....drawing curved spaces/
objects for n>3 is basically impossible.

n=1 n=2 n=3 n=4

Impossible
Euclidean
to draw...

non-Euclidean Impossible Impossible

(curved) to draw... to draw...
 Uniform Spaces & The Cosmological Principle
A uniform space is a space in which the curvature is the same at each point. Uniform spaces
are homogeneous (all points are equivalent) and isotropic (all directions are equivalent)

We believe the Universe to be a uniform space

The believe that the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic (on large scales) is called
the cosmological principle; it has strong observational support!
It also means the geometry of the Universe is described by one number: K

All Euclidean spaces (independent of their dimensionality) are uniform

For n=1, the only uniform spaces are a straight line (Euclidean, K=0) and a circle (K>0).
For n=1, no negatively curved space exists...

For n=2, their exist three uniform spaces; a flat, infinite sheet (Euclidean space, K = 0),
the surface of a sphere (`spherical’ space, K > 0) and an infinite Pringle-like surface
(`hyperbolic’ space, K < 0).

For n>2, their always exist three uniform spaces; a Euclidean space (K = 0),
a spherical space (K > 0) and a hyperbolic space (K < 0).
 Uniform Spaces & The Cosmological Principle
A uniform space is a space in which the curvature is the same at each point. Uniform spaces
are homogeneous (all points are equivalent) and isotropic (all directions are equivalent)

We believe the Universe to be a uniform space

The believe that the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic (on large scales) is called
the cosmological principle; it has strong observational support!
It also means the geometry of the Universe is described by one number: K

What is K of the Universe?

 Thinking in Higher Dimensions
According to SR, our space-time is a four-dimensional space (mathematician often
say “manifold”). If we take into account that it may be curved as well, this means
we need 5 dimensions to “draw” such a manifold .... Impossible.

However, we can get insight by considering 2D manifolds:

Flat Space Sheet K=0

Spherical Space Surface of sphere K>0

Hyperbolic Space Pringle chip K<0

These 2D manifolds represent our 3D space; the third

spatial dimension is used to indicate the curvature....
and we simply use time to represent time; if space
expands, we imagine stretching this 2D space with time

Imagining an expanding
curved space...
 General
Relativity
 Problems with Gravity around 1905
Newton’s law of gravity appears to give an accurate description of what happens,
but gives no explanation of gravity

Newton’s law of gravity only holds in inertial systems and is covariant under
Galilean transformations. However, according to SR inertial systems transform
according to Lorentz transformations, which leave Maxwell equations invariant.

Since there is matter in the Universe, and you can not shield yourself from it,
true inertial frames do not exist...

According to Newton’s law of gravity, moving a distant object has an immediate

effect all throughout space; violation of Special Relativity
The Vanishing Sun;
Newton’s version

When Sun instantaneously disappears, Earth will immediately continue in straight-line orbit,
according to Newton’s first law of motion.
The Vanishing Sun;
Einstein’s version

8 minutes later...

When Sun instantaneously disappears, Earth will continue on circular orbit for at least 8 more minutes
which is the minimum time required for the information about the Sun’s disappearance to reach Earth.
 Problems with Gravity around 1905
Newton’s law of gravity appears to give an accurate description of what happens,
but gives no explanation of gravity

Newton’s law of gravity only holds in inertial systems and is covariant under
Galilean transformations. However, according to SR inertial systems transform
according to Lorentz transformations, which leave Maxwell equations invariant.

Since there is matter in the Universe, and you can not shield yourself from it,
true inertial frames do not exist...

According to Newton’s law of gravity, moving a distant object has an immediate

effect all throughout space; violation of Special Relativity

These issues deeply disturbed Einstein. In 1907, beginning with a simple

thought experiment involving an observer in free fall, he embarked on what
would be an eight-year search for a relativistic theory of gravity. This
culminated in November 1915 when he presented what are now known as the
Einstein Field Equations to the Prussian Academy of Science. These equations
specify how the geometry of space and time is influenced by whatever matter
is present, and form the core of Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
 Einstein’s Thought Experiments
Consider stick-man in a windowless lab, moving with constant
v speed (i.e., his lab is an inertial frame)

According to Special Relativity, stick-man can perform no

experiment from which he can determine his velocity!

Now imagine stick-man’s lab being accelerated due to

the gravitational field of the Earth (i.e., stick-man’s
lab is a non-inertial frame in free-fall)

ac
What experiment(s) can stick-man do from
which he can determine his acceleration?

Answer: NONE

Stick-man does not notice the acceleration since the gravitational force is exactly
balanced (and hence cancelled) by the centrifugal inertial force.
 Einstein’s Thought Experiments

acceleration gravity

Stick-man’s lab is inhibited in its free-

Stick-man’s lab is accelerated. He
fall due to the normal force of the
experiences an inertial force, which
Earth. Consequently, stick-man
gives him a non-zero weight.
experiences the gravitational force,
giving him a non-zero weight)

Einstein realized that there is no experiment that Stick-man can do that tells
him the difference between gravity and acceleration.

Principle of Relativity is really a principle of impotence: you are unable to tell the
difference between being at rest, moving at constant speed or being in free-fall, and you’re
unable to tell the difference between being in a gravitational field or being accelerated.

Einstein, who had this revelation in 1907, describes it as `the happiest thought of my life’.
 Inertial Mass vs Gravitational Mass

Newton’s 2nd law of motion F = mi · a mi = inertial mass

G M mg
Newton’s law of gravity Fg = 2
= mg · g mg = gravitational mass
r

mg
Hence, for motion in a gravitational field: a= ·g
mi

Galileo and Newton have shown that all objects experience same
acceleration (all objects fall at same rate). This implies that the
ratio of inertial mass and gravitational mass must be a constant:

mg
= constant
mi

NOTE: this is not at all an obvious result...

 Inertial Mass vs Gravitational Mass

Consider a circular orbit centered on the Earth:

vc2

}
Fc = mi · ac = mi
Centrifugal force r G M mi
GM Fc =
vc2 = r2
r

G M mg
Gravitational force Fg =
r2

The fact that gravitational force and centrifugal force exactly cancel, implies
exact equality of inertial and gravitational masses: m =m
i g

If this would not be the case, then different objects would be on different
free-fall orbits; in space-shuttle, objects would fly against the walls...
 Inertial Mass
Torsion
vs Gravitational
Balance Mass
The equality of inertial mass and gravitational mass
has been tested and confirmed to exquisite precision.

The first to test the equality of inertial & gravitational

mass was the Hungarian physicist Loránd Eötvös, who
used a nifty apparatus, called the torsion balance.

Torsion
Balance
In 1889 Eötvös was able to show that Loránd Eötvös
there is no difference between
inertial and gravitational masses to an
accuracy of 1 part in 20 million

Modern versions of the Eötvös torsion balance experiment

show that
mi 12
=1+ | | < 10
mg
 Einstein’s General Relativity Theory

Based on the thought experiments described above, Einstein postulated the following:

Strong Equivalence Principle: inertial and free-falling systems (reference frames)

are entirely equivalent. SR applies to both
there exists no conceivable experiment that allow you to distinguish between inertial motion and free-fall.
Special Relativity is valid in free-falling reference frames as well as in inertial frames.
You can effectively `transform gravity away’ by going to a free fall frame....

Gravity is property of space-time: mass causes space-time to curve, and the curvature
of space-time causes orbits to be deflected.

a useful, and powerful, analogy is the curvature of a rubber sheet if

you put a bowling ball (a mass) on it. A marble at rest on the rubber
sheet will now start to roll (=fall) towards the ball. A moving marble’s
path will be deflected (bend) due to the curvature in the sheet.
 Einstein’s General Relativity Theory

Based on the thought experiments described above, Einstein postulated the following:

Strong Equivalence Principle: inertial and free-falling systems (reference frames)

are entirely equivalent. SR applies to both

there exists no conceivable experiment that allow you to distinguish between inertial motion and free-fall.
Special Relativity is valid in free-falling reference frames as well as in inertial frames.

Gravity is property of space-time: mass causes space-time to curve, and the curvature
of space-time causes orbits to be deflected.

BEWARE: in GR, 4D space-time is curved (in a fifth dimension),

whereas in our analogy a 2D-sheet is curved (in 3rd dim.)
This is impossible to draw.....to the left is an attempt to
depict curvature in 3D space...
 Einstein’s General Relativity Theory
Einstein’s Field Equations c=circular orbit
e=elliptical orbit
am u=unbound orbit
8 fGor Ex
Gµ R= d
equire 4 Tµ
Not c

Riemann tensor; describes

curvature of space-time

Energy-Momentum tensor;
describes distribution of matter For a weak gravitational field, Einstein’s Field Equations
and energy (which also has mass) reduce to the standard equations of Newtonian Gravity.
The strength of gravity is expressed via the parameter

⇣v ⌘2
esc
G=
c
At surface of Earth: G ⇥ 2
8
10
At photosphere of Sun: G ⇥ 4 10 6

Only when G 1 does Newton’s law start to fail

Gravity in Solar System is weak and

well described by Newton’s law of gravity.
 Brain Teaser
Brad Pitt is racing to his beloved Angelina, who is ready to deliver their 43rd child.
Since he is a nice guy, he has bought his pregnant wife a helium balloon, which is
floating against the ceiling in the back of the car...

Suddenly, a cat crosses the street, and Brad, being a nice guy, hits the brakes.
Question: what happens to the balloon?
Hint: use the strong equivalence principle

iiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiii
Gravitational
Lensing
 Gravitational Lensing
acceleration gravity

laser laser

In stick-man’s accelerated lab, the laser-beam Based on the strong equivalence

appears to follow a curved trajectory, which is principle, the laser-beam must follow
simply a reflection of upwards acceleration same trajectory in gravitational field.

The fact that light should be deflected in a

gravitational field is in accord with SR; photons have
energy, which is equivalent to mass (E = mc2 ).

This prediction of GR, called gravitational lensing, was

confirmed in 1919 during a Solar eclipse when the
British astronomer Sir Arthur Eddington who
observed the light from stars passing close to the sun
to be slightly bent, so that they appeared slightly out
of position. Einstein became a hero....
Gravitational Lensing can cause multiple images of same object

satellite

foreground
galaxy

quasar

true image
 Gravitational Lensing
Gravitational lensing is very common. Astronomers observe all
kinds of lensing phenomena. Since the angle by which the
light is bend is proportional to the mass of the lensing object,
accurate observations of lensing systems provide accurate
measurements of their masses!

lensed galaxy lensing cluster observer

Example: from the relative locations of the various images of

the background galaxy (the blue `stuff’) astronomers can
infer the mass of cluster of galaxies (the foreground lens).
A comparison with the total amount of stellar light in the
cluster shows that its mass is dominated by dark matter.

All the blue distorted looking galaxies are (distorted) images of one and the same
background galaxy that is being lensed due to the massive cluster in the foreground
 Hubble’s
Expansion Law
 Redshift
Recall from Lecture 9; we can measure blue/red-shift by comparing observed wavelength, obs ,
of emission/absorption lines to their rest-wavelength, 0 , measured in laboratory on Earth

obs 0 vlos vlos > 0 Object is receding from Earth; redshift

= =
0 0 c vlos < 0 Object is approaching from Earth; blueshift

Here vlos is the component of the velocity along the line-of-sight

Definition: the redshift of an object is defined as z=

0

Note that an object with a negative redshift (z < 0) is blueshifted

If the redshift of an object is interpreted as due to the Doppler

effect, the velocity of the object along the line-of-sight is equal to

vlos = c z
 Historical Perspectives
In 1912, Vesto Slipher, an astronomer working at Lowell’s Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona took
spectra of spiral nebulae (which Lowell believed to be planetary systems in formation). He noticed
that almost all spiral nebulae have very large redshifts. If interpreted as a Doppler shift, the
inferred recession velocities were of the order of 1000-2000 km/s

In 1920, Heber Curtis, used Slipher’s observations in The Great Debate to argue that spiral nebulae
are extra-galactic island Universes

In 1923, Edwin Hubble, used Cepheid variables to demonstrate that spiral nebulae are galaxies.

In 1929, Edwin Hubble, noticed a linear relation between the recession velocity of a galaxy (as
inferred from its redshift) and its distance (obtained using Cepheids or similar techniques).

In 1931, Edwin Hubble and his

assistant, Milton Humason (an
uneducated mule-driver at Mt.
Wilson), confirm the Hubble
relation, extending the distance
scales out to which it is
measured by an order of
magnitude.
Vesto Slipher Edwin Hubble Milton Humason
 = recessio

The Hubble Expansion Law

The figure shows the graph from Hubble’s original 1929 paper in which he announces the relation
between distance and recession velocity of spiral nebulae, currently called the Hubble Expansion Law

Hubble Expansion Law v = recession velocity [v] = km s 1

1
H0 = Hubble constant [H0 ] = km s 1
Mpc
v = H0 d d = distance [d] = Mpc

Hubble (1929)
Due to usage of an incorrect Period -
Hubble constant is the slope of this relation
Luminosity relation for Cepheid’s,
Hubble miscalculated the distances
to these galaxies, and ended up with
a Hubble constant of
1 1
H0 ⇠ 500 km s Mpc

Today, after much detailed work,

we know that

1 1
H0 (72 ± 2) km s Mpc
 = recessio

The Hubble Expansion Law

We can use the Hubble expansion law to determine the distances to galaxies and quasars:

v = H0 d
d= c
H0 z (Only valid for z<<1)
v = zc

This is the main method by which astronomers determine the distances to galaxies,
quasars and other extra-galactic objects; take a spectrum of the object, from which
you can determine the redshift. If you know the value of the Hubble constant, you
then use the above equation to determine the distance.

Example 1: A galaxy is observed to have a redshift of z = 0.1; what is its distance in Mpc?

300,000 km s 1
d= c
H0 z= 72 km s 1 Mpc 1
0.1 = 417 Mpc

Example 2: A quasar is observed to have a redshift of z = 2 ; what is its recession velocity?

v = zc = 2c
But according to Einstein’s SR, nothing can move faster than speed of light....
so how can z > 1? To understand this we need to look at expansion of space.
 The
Expanding
Universe
So the Universe is expanding, but....
(1) how can it be that objects are expanding away
from us at velocities larger than speed of light?

(2) does expansion of space mean that the distance

between Earth and Sun increases with time?

(3) where is the center of the expansion?

(4) what was there before the Big Bang?

(5) what is at the edge of the Universe, or, in other

words, what is the Universe expanding into?
 = recessio

What is expanding?
Question: Does the distance between Earth and Sun increase with time?
Answer: No. The expansion of space does not affect objects that are bound
together by gravity or some other force.

Analogy: Think of two bowling balls on a rubber sheet that you stretch; the balls, due
to the curvature they induce in the rubber sheet, stay next to each other...

Therefore, the following objects do not expand:

Solar system
Milky Way and other galaxies
Clusters of galaxies held together (bound) by gravity
Sun and other stars
Earth and other planets
you and I held together (bound) by electro-magnetic force
atoms
protons held together (bound) by strong force

What does expand is the space between galaxies and clusters that are not
gravitationally bound to each other.
 NOTE: the stars (=galaxies) getting bigger is not realistic! In reality galaxies
Expansion of Space; who is moving?
do not expand. This is an artifact of how I made this slide!!!!!

Consider the following patch of space: the `stars’ symbolize galaxies that are NOT
bound to each other. The dotted lines indicate a coordinate system.
NOTE: the stars (=galaxies) getting bigger is not realistic! In reality galaxies
Expansion of Space; who is moving?
do not expand. This is an artifact of how I made this slide!!!!!

NOTE: none of the stars/galaxies are moving with respect to space.

They maintain their position wrt the (comoving) coordinate system!!
 Comoving Coordinates & the Scale Factor

time

distance between two

galaxies is 2.4 grid-cells distance between two galaxies is still 2.4 grid-cells

This distance, expressed in units of a coordinate system that is expanding with space itself,
is called comoving distance, and corresponding coordinates are called comoving coordinates.

The physical distance between two objects, i.e. the one measured with a yard stick, is
related to the comoving distance according to:
dphys (t) = a(t) dcom (t)

a is called the scale factor, and its evolution with redshift completely describes the
expansion history of the Universe. By definition we set the present-day value to a0 = 1
 The Big Bang
If all galaxies are moving away from each other, i.e., the scale factor
is increasing with time, then if we go back in time, all galaxies must have
been closer together; the scale factor was smaller at earlier times.

This implies that there must have been a point in time at which a(t) = 0.
This instant in time is called the Big Bang.

The Big Bang is often depicted as some kind

of explosion (often, in movies, involving a loud
`bang’-sound). This is a very distorting view of
reality, as it suggests a specific point in space
from where the Universe emerged (and the
sound part is utterly wrong, as sound does not
propagate through empty space)

The correct way to think about the Big Bang is as the event that created
space-time; prior to the Big Bang space and time did not exist, and it is
therefore meaningless to ponder about a time before the Big Bang.....
 Cosmological Redshift

NOTE: because of the expansion of space, the wavelength of the photons is also stretched,
resulting in all objects being redshifted wrt each other. Yet, no object is really
moving; cosmological redshift is NOT related to Doppler effect, but simply to
expansion of space. z > 1 is not a violation of special relativity!!!
 Cosmological Redshift

Here is another look at it: Note how the expansion of space causes
the photons to become redder (their wavelength is stretched)
 The relation between redshift and scale factor
The relation between physical and comoving distance is specified by the scale factor:

dphys (t) = a(t) dcom dphys,0 = a0 dcom = dcom

Thus the comoving distance is the same as the physical distance at the present day

Since the wavelength of a photon is a

physical distance, we also have that
(t) = a(t) com

Hence, for a photon observed today obs = a0 com = com

Since wavelength at time of emission is equal to rest-wavelength, we have that

(tem ) = 0 = a(tem ) com

Hence, for the redshift we can write that

obs 0 obs com 1

z= = = 1= 1= 1
0 0 0 a(tem ) com a(tem )

Thus, the light of object at redshift z was emitted when scale factor of Universe was
a(z) = 1/(1 + z)
e.g., the light from a z=2 quasar was emitted when Universe was 1/3 of its present size
 = recessio

The Hubble Expansion Law

Question: But if nothing is really moving, then what is the meaning of the velocity v in
Hubble’s expansion law (v = H0 d )?

Answer: Simply think of it as the rate (in m/s) at which the physical distance between
two points that are at rest wrt comoving coordinate system increases with time.
Since this rate has the units of velocity, we refer to it as the expansion velocity.

NOTE: the distance d in Hubble’s expansion law is the physical distance,

not the comoving distance!!!

time
 = recessio

Peculiar Velocity
Thus far, we have assumed that galaxies are at rest wrt the comoving coordinate system.
This is not realistic; in reality galaxies have non-zero velocities, due to the fact that they
are accelerated by nearby galaxies (i.e., the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are
moving towards each other due to their mutual gravitational force).

Such a velocity is called “peculiar velocity” in order to distinguish it from the “velocity”
associated with the Hubble expansion law (hereafter called “expansion velocity”).

time

Note how all galaxies have moved wrt comoving coordinates due to their peculiar velocities.
 = recessio

Peculiar Velocity
The redshift of a galaxy has two components: one due to the expansion of the Universe
(cosmological redshift), and one due to its peculiar velocity (Doppler effect)

v = c · z = vexp + vpec = H0 dphys (t) + vpec (Only valid for z<<1)

expansion velocity peculiar velocity along los to observer

Hubble Diagram
The peculiar velocities of galaxies are responsible for the
scatter in the Hubble diagram. If you blindly use the Hubble
expansion law to infer the distance to a galaxy, you make an
error due to the non-zero peculiar velocity:
c c vexp + vpec
d= z=
H0 H0 c

Hubble expansion law

using above equation

 = recessio

Peculiar Velocity
The redshift of a galaxy has two components: one due to the expansion of the Universe
(cosmological redshift), and one due to its peculiar velocity (Doppler effect)

v = c · z = vexp + vpec = H0 dphys (t) + vpec (Only valid for z<<1)

expansion velocity peculiar velocity along los to observer

Hubble Diagram
The peculiar velocities of galaxies are responsible for the
scatter in the Hubble diagram. If you blindly use the Hubble
expansion law to infer the distance to a galaxy, you make an
error due to the non-zero peculiar velocity:
c c vexp + vpec
d= z=
H0 H0 c
vexp vpec vpec
= + = dphys (t) +
H0 H0 H0

Astronomers have determined that the peculiar velocities of galaxies rarely exceed error in inferred
~1000 km/s: Hence, the distance error due to peculiar velocities becomes negligible distance
for galaxies with 1000
dphys = 14Mpc
72
Expansion of Universe; where is the center?

observer

NOTE: the stars getting bigger is not realistic! In reality the stars do not expand.
This is an artifact of how I made this slide!!!!!
Expansion of Universe; where is the center?

observer

NOTE: you can clearly see the Hubble Expansion Law at work: more distant
galaxies seem to move away with higher “velocity”
Expansion of Universe; where is the center?

observer
Expansion of Universe; where is the center?

ANSWER: nowhere and everywhere. From every point in space, all objects are
“moving” away from that point, yet, that point is not special in any way.
There is no “center of the expansion”; it is expansion, not explosion!!!!

This notion that no point in space is special, is called the cosmological principle.
 The Cosmological Principle
Cosmological Principle: The Universe is homogeneous & isotropic.
homogeneous: the universe looks the same from all locations
isotropic: the universe looks the same in all directions

NOTE: Clearly, the Universe on small scales is neither homogeneous (i.e., location of Sun is very
different from that at center of Milky Way) nor isotropic (i.e., Universe looks different towards
center of Milky Way than towards the Virgo cluster). The cosmological principle only holds on very
large scales (larger than few hundred Mpc).

The Cosmological Principle can be considered a generalized Copernican Principle:

our location in the Universe should be typical and should not be distinguished in any
fundamental way from any other location

dis
t an
ce

Large surveys of galaxies provide observational evidence

for the cosmological principle: For example, the image to
the right shows the distribution of galaxies in the Sloan
Earth
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) along two different
directions; color indicates the local density of galaxies.
On small scales there are clearly differences, but on
large enough scales, things start to look similar SDSS
 The Geometry of the Universe
Cosmological Principle: The Universe is homogeneous & isotropic.
homogeneous: the universe looks the same from all locations
isotropic: the universe looks the same in all directions

Recall (lecture 14): A space that is homogeneous and isotropic is called a uniform space:
A uniform space is a space in which the curvature is the same at each point; it is
characterized by a single parameter, namely the global curvature, K

The cosmological principle therefore implies that the Universe is a uniform 3D

Riemannian manifold, in which the curvature, K, is everywhere the same. This leaves
three possibilities: space is flat (Euclidean space, K=0), positively curved (spherical
space, K>0), or negatively curved (hyperbolic space, K<0).

K=0 K>0 K<0

NOTE: To be able to facilitate illustrations, we have reduced the dimensionality of space from
3D to 2D. This allows us to draw curved spaces. We will adopt this simplification throughout
 Expansion of Universe; where is the edge?

Case I: flat (Euclidean) space

Assume that the Universe has a Euclidean
geometry (i.e., is flat). A useful 2D analogy
time is a flat rubber sheet that is being
stretched....

Where is the center of expansion?

as we have seen, there is not center of expansion.

Where is the edge of the Universe?

astronomers assume that a flat space is infinite (i.e., has no edge). Although we don’t
have proof that this is true, it is the only assumption that is consistent with the
cosmological principle; if there is an edge, not every point in space is equivalent...

What is the Universe expanding into?

itself....space is infinite, but keeps on expanding (getting bigger).
 Expansion of Universe; where is the edge?

Case II: curved space

Assume that the Universe is positively curved.
An analogy of an expanding, positively curved
space is the inflation of a balloon; note that the
time 2D surface of the balloon reflects the Universe.

Where is the center of expansion?

in the center of the balloon, but that is NOT part of the Universe itself. On the
surface of the balloon (=Universe) no point is special...So in this case there is a
“center of expansion” but it lies outside of the Universe itself (in an extra dimension)

Where is the edge of the Universe?

there is no edge; you can travel over the surface of the balloon (=travel through the
Universe) indefinitely, and you will never encounter an edge. In the above image the
balloon has an edge in the same dimension as the one in which it is curved, but this
dimension is not part of the space that makes up the Universe itself.

What is the Universe expanding into?

the extra dimension, which is not part of the Universe itself.
So the Universe is expanding, but....
(1) how can it be that objects are expanding away
from us at velocities larger than speed of light?

(2) does expansion of space mean that the distance

between Earth and Sun increases with time?

(3) where is the center of the expansion?

(4) what was there before the Big Bang?

(5) what is at the edge of the Universe, or, in other

words, what is the Universe expanding into?
 The Big Bang
Because of the expansion, the scale factor a(t) increases with time: i.e., the physical distance
between two objects at rest wrt comoving coordinates becomes larger and larger as time goes on....

dphys (t) = a(t) dcom

Recall that, by definition, a0 = a(today) = 1 . Hence, the comoving distance between two
objects is identical to the physical distance at the present day.

Now imagine going back in time. The physical distance between any two objects becomes
smaller and smaller, and there comes a point in time when dphys = 0 between all objects.

This moment, defined by a(t) = 0 , is called the Big Bang. It

signals the creation of space-time. Since there is no space or time
prior to Big Bang, the often posed question “what was there
before the Big Bang?” is meaningless. And it certainly is not part
of science, since it can never be tested with any experiment!!
Note that we do not `understand’ the Big Bang, since our
physics brakes down at t < 10 43 sec

This image shows up when you Google `Big Bang’.....this is the cause of much
confusion, since it implies that the Big Bang was an explosion localized in space.
It is neither an explosion, nor is it localized; it created all of space & time.
 The Age of the Universe
What is the age of the Universe, i.e., how many years ago did the Big Bang occur?

We can answer this question using the Hubble expansion law: vexp = H0 dphys,0
where the index zero refers to the present.

At the time of the Big Bang we have that dphys =0

If we assume that the expansion velocity is constant, then we have that dphys (t) = vexp t

Hence, the physical distance at the present day obeys dphys,0 = vexp t0
where t0 is the present-day age of the Universe

Combining this with the Hubble expansion law above, we see that t0 = 1/H0

In words; the age of the Universe is simply the reciprocal of the Hubble constant.
Using that H0 = 72 km s 1 Mpc 1 we obtain an age of 14.3 Gyr. However, this is only true if the
expansion velocity is constant. This is not true in general, but this method nevertheless yields an
approximate age. More sophisticated treatments yield an age of (13.73 +/- 0.12) Gyr
 Expanding your Horizon
The fact that the Universe has a finite age, and that the speed of light is finite,
means that we can only see a limited extent of the entire Universe.

For simplicity, let us start by considering a non-expanding Universe:

If that Universe is t0 years old, light can only have travelled a distance dH = c t0
We call this distance the particle horizon (or simply `horizon’), as no information
from any object at a distance d > dH could have reached the observer by the
present day. Such objects are said to lie outside the observer’s horizon.

As time goes on (and t0 increases), more and more objects fall inside the observer’s
horizon (i.e., dH increases); we say that as time goes on objects `enter our horizon’.

Note that an object outside of our horizon cannot affect us in any way;
we don’t even notice its gravitational field; this is similar to the Earth only
`realizing’ the disappearance of the Sun 8 minutes after it has gone....
The existence of a horizon also means that we can never test whether the
Universe is really infinite, since we can never probe past the horizon...

In case of expansion, the horizon is larger than without, since space expands
while light travels from horizon to observer....
 Expansion of Space; the horizon

The horizon grows faster than the expansion rate of the Universe.
Consequently, larger and larger parts of the Universe fall within the horizon
 Expansion of Space; the horizon

The horizon grows faster than the expansion rate of the Universe.
Consequently, larger and larger parts of the Universe fall within the horizon
 Expansion of Space; the horizon

The horizon grows faster than the expansion rate of the Universe.
Consequently, larger and larger parts of the Universe fall within the horizon
 Expansion of Space; the horizon

The horizon grows faster than the expansion rate of the Universe.
Consequently, larger and larger parts of the Universe fall within the horizon
 Expansion of Space; the horizon

The horizon grows faster than the expansion rate of the Universe.
Consequently, larger and larger parts of the Universe fall within the horizon
 Expansion of Space; the horizon

The horizon grows faster than the expansion rate of the Universe.
Consequently, larger and larger parts of the Universe fall within the horizon
 Expansion of Space; the horizon

The horizon grows faster than the expansion rate of the Universe.
Consequently, larger and larger parts of the Universe fall within the horizon
 Expansion of Space; the horizon

The horizon grows faster than the expansion rate of the Universe.
Consequently, larger and larger parts of the Universe fall within the horizon
 Newtonian Cosmology
We have seen that Hubble’s expansion law implies that the Universe is expanding. This implies a
`creation event’, which we have termed the Big Bang. Since Universe is filled with matter (clusters,
galaxies, stars, and apparently dark matter), and all matter pulls on all other matter via gravity, we
expect that this gravitational pull should slow down the expansion....

Consider a spherical region of radius R, centered

S on an observer, called O. And let the mass inside
this sphere be distributed uniformly (cosmological
S
principle). If the average mass density is ⇢ then
S S the total mass of all the attracting matter
S

(galaxies etc.) inside this sphere is

R
S
S

S 4
O S S M=
3
R3 ⇥

S While space expands, and the radius R of our

S
S

sphere increases, the total mass within this

S

expanding sphere remains the same; the galaxies

furthest away (at distance R) are moving the
S
S

fastest (ignoring peculiar velocities), so no

galaxies at smaller R can overtake them;
hence M is conserved...
 Newtonian Cosmology
Now consider galaxy A, exactly at the edge of our sphere. From the point of view of observer O,
this galaxy, which has a mass m , has an energy
1 GM m
E = Ekin + Epot = mv 2
2 R

S Since galaxy A is moving freely (no friction), this

S
energy is a conserved quantity. Similar to the
S S situation with a ball thrown in the air, galaxy A
will be bound (to the observer) if E < 0 . If so,
S

R it means that at some point in time the distance

S
S

between A and O will reach a maximum, after

S

S
O S SA which A will start moving towards O; in other
words, if E < 0 the expansion of the Universe
will come to a halt, and is followed by a collapse.
S
S
S

Similarly, if E > 0, the Universe will continue to

S

expand indefinitely (i.e., is unbound). In the

limiting case, E = 0 , expansion will come to halt
S
S

when A and O are infinitely far apart.

S
 Newtonian Cosmology
Let us focus on this limiting case, E = 0 :

1 GM m E=0 1 GM m
E = Ekin + Epot = mv 2 mH02 R2 =
2 R v = H0 R 2 R

4 8 GR2 3H02
M= R3 ⇥ H02 2
R = ⇥ ⇥=
3 3 8 G

Thus, the limiting case, E = 0 , corresponds to a Universe in which the density is given by this
particular value. We call this density the critical density, which we denote by ⇢crit

In fact, in cosmology we express the

average density of the Universe in units
E=0 ⇢ = ⇢crit =1
of this critical density via the unitless
quantity “omega”:
⇢
= GR: matter distribution sets space-time geometry
⇢crit
K=0
 The Fate of the Universe
“Closed” Universe “Flat” Universe “Open” Universe
> crit ⇢ = ⇢crit < crit
E<0 E=0 E>0
>1 =1 <1
expansion history, a(t) expansion history, a(t) expansion history, a(t)
scale factor

scale factor

scale factor
H0 indicates slope
at the present day

present
time time time

Universe reaches maximum size, Expansion of Universe comes to Expansion of Universe continues
followed by collapse & Big Crunch. halt after infinite amount of time. indefinitely with finite rate.
Gravity prevails over expansion Gravity exactly balances expansion. Expansion prevails over gravity.

K>0 K=0 K<0

Space-Time has positive curvature Space-Time has Euclidean geometry Space-Time has negative curvature
 The Expansion History
>1 =1 <1
scale factor

factor

scale factor
scale factor
H0 indicates slope
at the present day

scale
future

present
time present time
time time

What would my `Hubble diagram’ (redshift vs distance) look like in each of these cases?

Hubble Diagram Looking at larger distances is looking back further in

>1 time. From the above plot we see that in all three
=1
cases, the expansion rate of the Universe was larger in
redshift

<1
the past. Hence, in all three cases the Universe is
Universe is H(t) = H0 decelerating over time.
decelerating
with time From plot above, it is clear that a closed Universe is
younger than an open Universe. Both are younger than the
age we would infer assuming a constant expansion rate
Universe is (which results in t0 = 1/H0 ). Since the scale factor is
accelerating directly related to redshift, i.e. a = 1/(1 + z), we see
with time that light from a certain redshift was emitted a longer
time ago in a Universe with a lower density; hence, in a
Universe with lower density, a given redshift corresponds
distance
to a larger distance.
 The Expansion History
Hubble Diagram Thus, we can determine the density of the
>1
=1 Universe, and therefore also the curvature of
redshift

<1
the Universe, by simply measuring redshifts
and distances of (many) galaxies. Measuring
H(t) = H0
Universe is
decelerating redshifts is easy (just take a spectrum);
Cepheids
with time SNIa
however, measuring distances is hard. We can
only measure Cepheids out to small distances.
Universe is
accelerating
with time However, there is another method to measure
distances, which works out to much larger
distance
distances; Supernova Ia

Supernova Ia are a special class of supernovae, which all happen to have the same luminosity
at their maximum brightness (during the explosion). Hence, if we measure the flux during
peak brightness, and we know the associated luminosity, we can infer the distance!

To everyone’s surprise when SNIa data became available in late 1990’s,

it revealed that the Universe is accelerating, rather than decelerating.
How could this be? Gravity is attractive force, and should cause acceleration
 Relativistic Cosmology
Our analysis thus far used simple Newtonian considerations. Proper cosmology, however, has
to rely on Einstein’s General Relativity (after all, we are talking about curved space-times).

Einstein’s Field Equation Cosmological Principle

8 G The Universe is
Gµ = 4
Tµ homogeneous & isotropic
c

lots of tedious math

2 8 G Kc2 c2
Friedmann Equation H (t) = ⇥(t) +
3 a2 (t) 3

Hubble parameter:H(t) Cosmological Constant: ⇤

describes the rate at which the accounts for the fact that the
Curvature Constant: K vacuum may also contribute energy.
Universe is expanding at time t
Hubble `constant’ is H0 = H(t0 ) describes the curvature of the introduced by Einstein to allow for
uniform and isotropic space-time; static Universe (without expansion)
normalized to be either -1, 0 or +1.
 Relativistic Cosmology
The density appearing in the Friedmann equation describes the density of both matter
and energy. Since both photons and matter have energy, they both contribute to this
energy density: ⇢ = ⇢m + ⇢r

matter radiation

Einstein’s cosmological constant may be interpreted as a property of the vacuum. In

particular, the vacuum has an energy-density given by: 2
⇥ = c /8 G

This means we can write the Friedmann equation at the present time, t = t0 , as:
8 G⇥ ⇤ Kc2
H02 = ⇥m,0 + ⇥r,0 + ⇥ ,0
3 a20
where a subscript 0 refers to the present time. Using the definition of the critical density,
and the fact that a0 = 1, this can be rewritten as
✓ ◆2
c
1 0 = K where 0 = m,0 + r,0 + ,0
H0
This makes it explicit that the curvature of space-time is directly related to its energy
density, which has contributions from matter, radiation and (maybe) the vacuum!!!
 S The Cosmological Constant

S
S S Let’s take another look at our expanding sphere...

S
R

S
S

1 GM m
S
S E = Ekin + Epot = mv 2
O S vacuum S 2 R

S While the sphere expands (R increases), its

S
S

binding energy decreases. But now lets’ have a

S
look at what happens if we add vacuum energy;

S
S

E = Ekin + Epot + Evac

1 GM m 4 3
= mv 2 + R ⇥
2 R 3

Expansion of the sphere now corresponds to an increase in vacuum energy. When R becomes
sufficiently large, ⇢⇤ becomes the dominant source of energy. At that point, expansion
actually causes an increase in the total energy E. This corresponds to an acceleration of the
expansion (like adding energy to space shuttle at take off by burning fuel...).

The SNIa data clearly indicates that our Universe is accelerating its expansion. This
therefore indicates that the energy density in our Universe is dominated by vacuum energy.
 Dark Energy does not depend does not depend
on location on time

But what is vacuum energy? It is a property of space itself.

c2
⇥ (⇤x) = ⇥ = ⇥ ,0 =
Hence, the energy density of the vacuum is a constant, i.e.: 8 G

Quantum-field theory actually `predicts’ that the vacuum has energy. However, it
predicts that ⇢ ' 10 ⇢crit , whereas according to our cosmological data
120
< crit
In other words, the quantum-physical prediction is off by ~120 orders of magnitude!!!
This is an embarrassing inconsistency (aka a “problem”).
Because of this, astronomers and physicist sometimes assume that there
simply is no vacuum energy, but that there is something else that “behaves
like vacuum energy”. This something else is called dark energy.

But what is dark energy? It it a scalar field

A scalar field assigns to each point in space a value (which reflects its
local energy-density). It is different from a vector field, which assigns
to each point in space a vector, which has both amplitude and direction
(i.e., electromagnetic field, gravitational field). A scalar field has no
direction, just amplitude. A scalar field is different from cosmological
constant in that its energy density may vary in space and time.... Here is the answer
according to Google
 The Evolving Universe
S

S
S S Consider once again our spherical volume,

S
R containing a mass M, expanding with time.

S
S
S
The average density of matter inside this
S
O S S volume evolves with time according to:

3M
S ⇥m (t) =

S
S

4 R3 (t)
S
Here R(t) is the physical distance, which
S
S

can be written as R(t) = Rphys (t) = a(t)Rcom

Using that the comoving distance Rcom is the same as the physical distance at the present
day (because a0 = 1 ), we find that the matter density evolves as
3 3
m = m,0 a = m,0 (1 + z)

For brevity, I have not explicitly written down the time dependence of ⇢mand a

Thus, at redshift z = 1 , when the Universe was half the present-day size, the average
matter density was eight times higher than it is today. At z = 9 it was a thousand times
higher than it is today, etc. NOTE: this does not mean that galaxies, or stars, were denser;
only that galaxies that were unbound to each other were closer to each other!!!!
 The Evolving Universe
Now consider the radiation density in that volume.
This is proportional to the number of photos in the
volume, Nph, (which is constant if the Universe is
homogeneous and isotropic) and the energy per
photon, Eph
3Nph Eph
⇥r (t) =
4 R3 (t)

As before, we have that R(t) = Rphys (t) = a(t)Rcom , but we also have that the wavelength
of the photons change with time according ph (t) / a(t) . In particular, we have that

1
Eph = hfph = hc/ ph = hc/ ph,0 a = Eph,0 a
Hence, we finally obtain that the radiation density of the Universe evolves according to:
4
r = r,0 a = r,0 (1 + z)4

Thus, at redshift z = 1 , when the Universe was half the present-day size, the average
radiation density was sixteen times higher than it is today. At z = 9 it was ten-thousand
times higher than it is today, etc. Note that the radiation density decreases faster than
the matter density. As we shall see, this has important implications for the early Universe!!!
 density evolution
The Evolving Universe
The energy density of the vacuum doesn’t change
with time; it is simply a property of the vacuum,
log(⇢) ma and is not affected by the expansion of space.
tte
dark energy r
vacuum ⇢ =⇢ ,0

dark energy
ra Consequently, the various densities evolve as
di
at
i on indicated in the figure to the left. At early times
radiation dominates the energy density of the
log(a) time
Universe, followed by matter, and ultimately the
vacuum (cosmological constant).

As we will see, the radiation content of the Universe is dominated by the cosmic microwave
background (CMB), which has a perfect black body curve. As the Universe evolves, the wavelengths
of the photons redshift, but the distribution remains that of a black body.
3
A black body obeys Wien’s displacement law: max = 2.9 ⇥ 10 /T . Here T reflects the
temperature of the photons. Since max / a we find that T / a 1. Hence, the Universe was
hotter at earlier times; going back towards the Big Bang, the temperature becomes infinitely high!!!

It may seem strange to talk about “the temperature of the Universe“. Here is how to think of it: suppose you place
a black body of temperature T=0 in this universe. It will absorb all photons that hit it (definition of black body),
and will establish thermal equilibrium with these photons; hence it temperature becomes that of the Universe
 Cosmic Microwave
Background
I. Discovery & Data
 The Story of Discovery

Arno Penzias &

Robert Wilson

1965: Penzias & Wilson serendipitously discovered CMB while

testing Bell Lab’s horn-antenna on Crawford Hill, New Jersey. Jim Peebles
They were awarded the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics!
 Observing the CMB: do it yourself

Roughly 1 percent of the static on your TV is CMB!!!

 The CMB Spectrum

2.7K = -454.5 F
= -270.3 C

Text
Text

The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation reveals a perfect black body curve
corresponding to a temperature of T=2.726 K. This is the most accurate Planck Curve
ever measured; physicists in their laboratories cannot make better Planck Curves!
COBE WMAP

Anisotropy
launched Jun 2001
launched Nov 1989
angular resolution: 13 arcminutes
angular resolution: 7 degrees

increasing temperature sensitivity

T
= 1.5
T

T 3
= 3 ⇥ 10
T

T 5
= 7 ⇥ 10
T

increasing spatial resolution

 COBE

Satellite Experiments

“cold” spot;
T = 2.7262 K launched Nov 1989
angular resolution: 7 degrees

“hot” spot;
T = 2.7266 K

T 5
= 7 ⇥ 10
T

The CMB all sky map, after removal of the radiation coming from the Milky Way disk
 WMAP

Satellite Experiments

“cold” spot;
T = 2.7262 K launched Jun 2001
angular resolution: 13 arcminutes

“hot” spot;
T = 2.7266 K

T 5
= 7 ⇥ 10
T

The CMB all sky map, after removal of the radiation coming from the Milky Way disk
 PLANCK
Satellite Experiments

“cold” spot;
launched May 2009
T = 2.7262 K
angular resolution: 5 arcminutes

“hot” spot;
T = 2.7266 K

T 5
= 7 ⇥ 10
T

The CMB all sky map, after removal of the radiation coming from the Milky Way disk
For comparison.....
The Anisotropy PowerSpectrum
How to measure the Power Spectrum

(1) Measure the average temperature

inside a circular region with a diameter
of X degrees centered on random spot

(2) Repeat this for many random spots

(3) Measure the variance (`scatter’) in

these average temperatures. This is
the power on a scale of X degrees.

(4) Repeat steps 1-3 for different values

of X. The power as function of X is
called the power spectrum...

Number

X=20 degrees Temperature

The Anisotropy PowerSpectrum
How to measure the Power Spectrum

(1) Measure the average temperature

inside a circular region with a diameter
of X degrees centered on random spot

(2) Repeat this for many random spots

(3) Measure the variance (`scatter’) in

these average temperatures. This is
the power on a scale of X degrees.

(4) Repeat steps 1-3 for different values

of X. The power as function of X is
called the power spectrum...

Number

X=1 degree Temperature

 Cosmic Microwave
Background
II. Physics of the CMB
 Going Back in Time...
In present day Universe, the mean free path of photons
(the average distance a photon can travel before it is
scattered or absorbed) exceeds the horizon; The average
photon therefore traverses the visible Universe without a
single interaction (which is why we can see galaxies etc.)

Going back in time, the Universe becomes denser & hotter (and its photons become
more energetic). There comes a time when the photons are so energetic that they
ionize all the available hydrogen atoms: H --> p + e

At earlier times, photons interact strongly with free electrons (Thomson scattering).
The negatively charged free electrons, in turn, have strong electro-magnetic
interactions with positively charged protons. Hence, the protons, electrons and
photons are all tightly coupled together. This is called the photon-baryon fluid.

p
e
In the tightly coupled photon-baryon fluid, the
e
p mean free path of photons is tiny; the photons
are trapped, and can’t get `out of the box’. At
p e
p
e
e this point in time the Universe is completely
e
p opaque, like a very, very thick fog...
 Recombination: The origin of the CMB
photon-baryon fluid neutral hydrogen

to observer

time Recombination

Shortly after Big Bang, Universe consists of dark matter and photon-baryon fluid; The
photons are prevented from traveling freely for a significant distance because of Thomson
scattering; they are trapped. About 380,000 yrs after Big Bang the Universe has cooled to
the point where electrons and protons combine to form hydrogen atoms (p + e --> H). This is
called recombination and happens very suddenly. It removes the free electrons, bringing an
end to Thomson scatering. Hence, after recombination the mean free path of the photons
suddenly increases to being larger than the size of the Universe; they travel freely
throughout the Universe. These photons make up the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
 The Cosmic Microwave Background

You can think of the CMB as the photons that are suddenly
released from a small jack-in-the-box; at some point the box is
opened and all its photons stream out in all directions.....

Now imagine one such jack-in-the-box at every point in expanding

space (at every point in space there are photons that are trapped)

The opening of the jack-in-the-box coincides with recombination. Since

recombination occurs when the Universe has cooled down to a low enough
temperature, it occurs everywhere at the same time.

Hence, all jack-in-the-box’s will open exactly at the same time....

From every point in space, suddenly photons start to fly off in all directions...
Observations in an expanding Universe

shortly after the Big Bang...

Observations in an expanding Universe

Universe expands,
horizon grows....
Observations in an expanding Universe

An event happens (a photon-box is opened)

at comoving coordinates (+1.5,+1.5)
Observations in an expanding Universe

light from the event

is on its way to us....
Observations in an expanding Universe

light from the event

is on its way to us....
Observations in an expanding Universe

light from the event

is on its way to us....
Observations in an expanding Universe

location of event has entered our horizon,

but light from event has not reached us yet...
Observations in an expanding Universe

we “see” the event

 Observations in an expanding Universe

All simultaneous events that are equidistant from us are observed at the same time.
If all four events shown happened simultaneously, we observe them at the same time...
 Observing the CMB

At present we observe all photons released at recombination from all jack-in-the-box’s located on
the blue, dashed circle...On their way to us, these photons have been redshifted due to expansion of
the Universe...Since recombination occurred 380,000 yrs after the Big Bang, when scale factor was
a = 1/(1 + z) ' 0.0009 , the CMB corresponds to a redshift of z ' 1100
 Observing the CMB

At each point in time, I observe CMB photons coming from jack-in-the-box’s at different locations:

The origin of the CMB photons that I observed 2 Gyrs ago

The origin of the CMB photons that I observe today
The origin of the CMB photons that I will observe 100,000 yrs from today
 The Last Scattering Surface
We can’t see any photons from an event that happened before recombination...
Those photons were locked up in their jack-in-the-boxes, and could not get out.

Hence, using photons we can only probe back to the epoch of recombination, about 380,000 years
after the Big Bang. When we look at CMB at given point in time, we see photons that came from thin,
spherical shell centered on us. We call this shell the last scattering surface, since on that shell the
photons experienced their last scattering before the jack-in-the-box opened (at recombination).

we can’t look we can’t look

out further in further

Last Scattering Surface is like photosphere of Sun;

no information from before recombination can reach us
(except for neutrinos & gravitational waves)

At recombination T ~ 3000K. Because of the expansion of the Universe, the CMB photons have
been redshifted (and cooled down) to T ~ 2.7 K, which is the temperature of the CMB spectrum
Cosmic Microwave
Background
III. Anisotropies
 The Origin of the Dipole

hotter
n
otio
ofm
ion
ect
d ir

colder

The origin of the dipole

Our peculiar motion is made up of: in the CMB is the
Doppler effect due to
Motion of Earth around Sun (~30 km/s)
our peculiar motion
Motion of Sun around MW center (~220 km/s)
Motion of MW towards Virgo cluster (~300 km/s)
Total vector sum of 369 km/s

Photons coming from the direction in which we are moving are blueshifted (as if that
direction is moving towards us). Photons of a shorter wavelength correspond to photons
of a higher temperature (recall Wien’s law)
 Origin of the Acoustic Peaks
Postulate:
shortly after the Big Bang some mechanism
created small perturbations in the density
distribution of the dark matter....

Potential well of an overdensity in dark matter

Overdensities pull matter towards them. We say that overdensities are associated with a
potential well (regions of more negative potential energy). The baryons (which are part of
the tightly coupled photon-baryon fluid) feel the gravitational pull from these overdensities,
and start to fall into their potential wells....

However, photon-baryon fluid has enormous pressure (is very incompressible due to the
photons bouncing off electrons). This pressure resists gravitational compression, giving
rise to oscillations (compression --> rarefaction --> compression --> rarefaction).
This sets off sound wave in photon-baryon fluid and creates temperature fluctuations

Compressing a gas heats it up,

Temperature fluctuations
expanding a gas cools it down
 Origin of the Acoustic Peaks
Previously we only looked at a single overdensity. In reality, Universe is filled with both
over- and under-densities. We can think of this `perturbed’ Universe as being build up
from a large sum of sinusoidal perturbations of different wavelengths (we call these the
different perturbation modes). Below is an illustration of one such mode...

Red is Cold
Blue is Hot

Compression results in higher temperature

Rarefaction results in lower temperature

Oscillations: Compression in valley (hot) & rarefaction at hill (cold)

is followed by rarefaction in valley (cold) & compression at hill (hot)
is followed by compression in valley (hot) & rarefaction at hill (cold), etc
 long-wavel

Origin of the Acoustic Peaks

long-wavelength mode

short-wavelength mode

Density perturbation field is a combination of perturbations with different

wavelengths (different `modes’)

Modes with smaller wavelengths oscillate faster (consequence of constant sound speed).

At recombination, photons are released, and the pressure of the photon-baryon

fluid drops to (almost) zero. This stops the oscillations; they are frozen in the
configuration in which they happen to be at the moment of recombination.
 Origin of the Acoustic Peaks

Space
Space

Shown is the time-evolution of a single perturbation mode,

and the locations of six `jack-in-the-boxes’.
 Origin of the Acoustic Peaks

=observer

Space
Space

The
At recombination,
observer sees this
jack-in-the-boxes
mode as angularopen
temperature
(photons `decouple’)
fluctuationand
on the
sky, with a characteristic
the photons start
angular
to free-stream
scale set bythrough
the wavelength
space. of the mode.
 Origin of First Acoustic Peak

large small
scales scales

Big Bang time Recombination

T/T
Sachs-Wolfe

hot cold hot

At recombination

The first acoustic peak is due to the mode that just reaches maximal
compression in valley/rarefaction on hill top for first time at recombination
 Origin of First Acoustic Trough

large small
scales scales Big Bang time Recombination

T/T

At recombination

Temperature fluctuations at troughs are not zero! Although photon-baryon

fluid has constant temperature, motions in the fluid cause Doppler shifts
 Origin of the Second Acoustic Peak

large small Big Bang

scales scales
time Recombination

cold hot cold

T/T

At recombination

The second acoustic peak is due to mode that just reaches maximal
rarefaction in valley/compression on hill top for first time at recombination
 Cosmic Microwave
Background
IV. Lessons Learned
 The Curvature of the Universe

K>0 K=0 K<0

fp fp fp

lss lss lss

Curvature of Universe can be probed using large-scale triangles

One such triangle comes from angular scale of first acoustic peak: this angular scale
corresponds to the wavelength of the mode that just managed to collapse (reach maximal
compression) at recombination (i.e., at t = trec )

/2 = vsound trec This wavelength is a constant, the value

= (2/ 3) c trec = of which is known. We also know the
vsound = c/ 3 fp
distance to last scattering surface (lss)

RESULT: Our Universe is flat (K=0), i.e., has Euclidean Geometry

 The Baryon-to-Dark Matter Ratio
Increasing the density of the baryons relative
to that of the dark matter causes stronger
compression in valleys (due to the self-gravity
of baryons), and less compression on hill tops.
Since odd peaks (first, third, etc) correspond
to compression in valleys, whereas even peaks
(second, fourth, etc) correspond to compression
on hill tops, the baryon-to-dark matter ratio
controls the ratio of odd-to-even peak heights.
Red is Cold
Blue is Hot

RESULT: dark matter density ~6x higher than baryon density

 CMB data supports Dark Energy
Detailed modelling of the CMB anisotropies shows that
the dark and baryonic matter have a combined density

¯m 0.25 crit m 0.25

However, the fact that the geometry of the Universe

is Euclidean (i.e., K = 0), indicates that

0 = 1.0

This suggests the presence of another component of

energy density, other than baryonic or dark matter.
The most obvious candidate is dark energy, whose presence
is also inferred from the observed accelerated expansion.
The total energy density of dark energy has to be

¯ 0.75 crit 0.75

 Summary
The CMB is a prediction of Big-Bang theory. Its presence is considered
one of the strongest pieces of evidence supporting Big-Bang cosmology

The CMB reveals tiny temperature perturbations. The acoustic peaks in

the temperature power spectrum were predicted to exist well before
they were observed.

The location and heights of the acoustic peaks indicate that Universe
is flat, and that its matter content is dominated by dark matter.

The amounts of dark matter and baryonic matter inferred from the
CMB anisotropies are not enough to make the Universe flat. Hence,
the CMB data supports the notion that the total energy density is
dominated by dark energy.
 The
Early
Universe
 The History of the Universe
t = 13.73 Gyr T = 2.726 K present
t = 9 Gyr T = 5K Solar system forms

matter era structure formation

t = 106 yr T = 3000 K recombination --> CMB

t = 105 yr T = 104 K matter-radiation equality
radiation era

t = 300 s
BBN BBN = Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis
t = 10 s T = 109 K
Lepton era
4
t = 10 s T = 1012 K
Hadron era
t = 10 6
s T = 1013 K quark-hadron phase transition

Quark Soup
t = 10 33
s T = 1027 K
inflation
t = 10 35
s T = 1028 K

t = 10 43
s ???? ???? T = 1032 K
Big Bang
Particle
Physics
 The Particle Nature of Matter
Regular (baryonic) matter is made up of elementary particles. The particles
that are most relevant for ASTR 170 are
p
proton; positive charge (q=+1) mp mn 2000me
19
n neutron; no electrical charge (q=0) qp = qe = 1.6 ⇥ 10 C
e electron; negative charge (q=-1) when talking about elementary particles, we express
electrical charge in units of electric charge of proton

Atoms are made up of a nucleus, consisting of protons and neutrons, surrounded

by electrons. The number of electrons is equal to the number of protons, so that
atoms carry no net electrical charge.

Molecules are electrically neutral groups of at least two atoms held together by
chemical bonds (i.e., water, ethanol, carbon-monoxide, etc.)

Ions are atoms or molecules in which the number of electrons is either larger or
smaller than the number of protons. If the number of electrons is zero, the atom
is said to be fully ionized

Isotopes are atoms that contain the same number of protons, but a different
number of neutrons (i.e. Carbon-12 and Carbon-14 are isotopes).
 proton
The Particle Nature of Matter
p

n neutron
Baryonic
e electron
mass fraction

e
e Hydrogen and Deuterium are isotopes
p n
p
Neutral hydrogen is called HI ~74%
Ionized hydrogen is called HII
Molecular hydrogen is called H2
H (Hydrogen) D (Deuterium)

e e

n p pnp
p n np
~24%
n p
n
e

He (Helium) He+ (singly ionized Helium) He++ (double ionized Helium)

In astronomy, all elements heavier than helium are called metals

~2%
 Quarks & Co
Protons and neutrons are made up of three quarks each, held
together by gluons. There are a total of six different quarks
(known as `flavors’) giving rise to many different particles
(pions, kaons, hyperons, etc.). All of these are unstable (will
decay) except for proton. Quarks can never be isolated; they FLAVOR CHARGE*

always combine to make composite particles (called hadrons). up +2/3

down -1/3
charm +2/3
strange -1/3
top +2/3
bottom -1/3
gluon * electron has charge of -1

proton neutron
Total charge: Total charge:
+2/3 + 2/3 - 1/3 = +1 +2/3 - 1/3 - 1/3 = 0
 Anti-Matter
All charged elementary particles (i.e., mainly electrons and protons)
have an anti-particle, which has the same mass but opposite electrical
charge. The anti-particle of the electron is the positively charged
anti-electron (or positron), and the anti-particle of the proton is the
anti-proton. The neutral neutron also has an anti-particle (the anti-
neutron), which has the same mass and the same electrical charge as
the neutron; it only differs from the neutron in that it is made up of Paul Dirac
anti-quarks, instead of quarks.....

In what follows, we will indicate anti-particles by a little bar over the particle’s letter:
+
We use e to indicate an electron, and ē to indicate a positron (some books use e instead)
We use p to indicate a proton, and p̄ to indicate anti-proton (some books use p instead)
We use n to indicate a neutron, and n̄ to indicate an anti-neutron, etc..

The existence of anti-particles was predicted by Paul Dirac in 1928, based on some
symmetry arguments in quantum theory. Only a few years later, in 1932, the first positrons
were observed in particle accelerator experiments. Anti-protons and anti-neutrons were
discovered soon afterwards.
 Annihilation & Pair Production
When a particle `bumps’ into its anti-particle, they annihilate (are transformed into two
photons). During annihilation, the entire rest-mass energy of the particle and anti-particle
is transformed into pure energy (in the form of photons).

electron-positron annihilation e + ē ! +

NOTE: from here onwards, we will use the greek symbol to indicate a photon.

Interestingly, when a photon has sufficient energy, it can create (from its energy) a
particle plus its anti-particle...

! e + ē creation of electron-positron pair

! n + n̄ creation of pair of neutron and anti-neutron

In the first example, the photon energy needs to be at least twice the rest-mass energy of
an electron ( E = h f 2me c2 ). In the second example, the photon energy needs to be at
least twice the rest mass energy of a neutron....

Shortly after the Big Bang, the Universe is full of very energetic photons....They have
enough energy to create matter and anti-matter (in equal amounts).
 A boring Universe....
Consider a Universe with only photons, electrons and positrons. Shortly after Big Bang,
there are only photons. These produce electron-positron pairs....Once temperature of
Universe becomes so low that individual photons can no longer create electron-positron
pairs, they quickly annihilate away, yielding once again a Universe consisting only of photons

Big Bang
T > 109 K T < 109 K
time

! e + ē
e + ē ! +
e + ē ! +

Each photon has sufficient energy The Universe has cooled down to the
to create electron-positron pairs. point that individual photons can no
There pairs are continuously created longer create electron-positron pairs.
and destroyed again by annihilation. The only reaction that can occur is
There is a subtle equilibrium.... annihilation of electrons and positrons
back to photons....

Puzzle: The same should apply to protons/anti-protons and to neutrons/anti-neutrons....

So why doesn’t the current Universe consist only of photons? Where did all the
stars and galaxies come from????
 Baryo-Genesis
Puzzle 1: The same should apply to protons/anti-protons and to neutrons/anti-neutrons....
So why doesn’t the current Universe consist only of photons? Where did all the
stars and galaxies come from????

Solution: the Universe is expanding...by the time pair-creation is no longer possible, the
Universe has become so large and dilute, that the probability that a particle and
an anti-particle meet each other has become very small.....

Puzzle 2: if particles and anti-particles survived, then where are the anti-particles? Once I create
stars and galaxies, densities increase, and if I try to make objects from combination of
matter and anti-matter, they should annihilate...... Did matter and anti-matter somehow
segregate and create stars and anti-stars? Where are the anti-galaxies?

Solution: the anti-matter has disappeared! There are no anti-stars and/or anti-galaxies. We believe
that in early Universe, for some (unknown) reason, there was a slight excess of matter
over anti-matter. When Universe cooled down, all anti-matter annihilated with matter,
leaving a little bit of excess matter. All galaxies, stars, planets, etc are made out of that
little bit of excess matter.

The process of producing an asymmetry between baryons and anti-baryons is called

baryo-genesis. At the present we have no clear understanding of how this happened......
 Neutrinos
In 1930, the Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli postulated the existence of a new
particle, called the neutrino (meaning “small neutral one” in Italian), in order to
satisfy energy conservation in beta decay: it was found that the energy of the
observed decay products (electron plus proton) did not add up to that of the
original particle, the neutron. Pauli postulated that the excess energy was carried
away by a neutrino; an electrically neutral particle with very, very small, but non-
zero mass. Neutrinos are denoted by the Greek letter ⌫ (nu) Wolfgang Pauli

Because of its small mass, and because it has no electrical charge (it does not feel the electromagnetic
force), it is able to pass through ordinary matter almost unaffected. This makes them extremely
difficult to detect (experimental confirmation for the existence of neutrinos had to wait until 1956).

Beta-decay Neutrinos are created in various nuclear reactions (for

example, beta-decay). They are also produced, in copious
quantities in the Sun as a by-product of hydrogen-fusion.

Most neutrinos passing through the Earth emanate from

the Sun. Every second, about 65 billion Solar neutrinos
pass through every square centimeter of your body...
d!u
n!p+e+¯ anti-neutrino
 Neutrino Experiments

SuperKamiokande, a neutrino observatory under Mount Kamioka near the city of Hida in
Japan. It is located in a mine, 3300 ft under the surface of the Earth. It consists of a
steel tank that holds 50,000 tons of ultra-pure water, and its walls are mounted with 11,146
photo-multipliers. Neutrinos that interact with electrons in the water produce a certain
type of radiation (Cherenkov radiation) that can be detected with these photo-multipliers.
On Nov 12, 2001, about 6,600 of the
photo-multiplier tubes (costing
$3000 each) imploded, in a chain
reaction, as the shock wave from the
concussion of each imploding tube
cracked its neighbours...
 Primordial Quark Soup t = 10 6
s T = 1013 K

Quark Soup
Going back in time, the Universe becomes hotter and t = 10 33
s T = 1027 K
inflation
denser.... At sufficiently early times, there are no t = 10 35
s T = 1028 K
hadrons (particles made up of quarks), simply because
t = 10 43
s ???? ???? T = 1032 K
the energy of the photons and the quarks is too large to
bind the quarks together into compound particles...

At this point in time ( t < 10 6 s, T > 1013 K ), the Universe is made up of a primordial “soup”
consisting of photons, neutrinos & anti-neutrinos, electrons & positrons, quarks and anti-quarks..

(we can ignore dark matter & dark energy for now)

Baryo-genesis has already done its job, so that there are more
quarks and electrons than anti-quarks and anti-electrons. The
difference is tiny though; for every 1,000,000,001 quarks there
are 1,000,000,000 anti-quarks. This tiny asymmetry is sufficient
to result in a Universe that we observe today...

Main reactions occurring in quark soup

! q + q̄ q + q̄ ! +

! e + ē e + ē ! +
 The Hadron Era
4
t = 10 s T = 1012 K
Hadron era
6
t = 10 s T = 1013 K

When the Universe is about 1 millisecond old, and Quark Soup

its temperature has cooled down to ~ 1013 K , the t = 10 33
s inflation
T = 1027 K
Universe undergoes the quark-hadron phase t = 10 35
s T = 1028 K
transition: quarks bind together to form hadrons t = 10 43
s T = 1032 K
???? ????
(mainly protons and neutrons)

In fact, quarks make protons & neutrons, while anti-quarks make anti-protons & anti-neutrons.

Universe now consists of photons, neutrinos & anti-neutrinos, electrons & positrons,
protons & anti-protons, and neutrons & anti-neutrons (ignoring dark matter & dark energy).

Main reactions during Hadron era After about 10 4 s , when Universe has cooled to a
temperature of about 1012 K , the photons no longer
! e + ē e + ē ! + have enough energy to produce protons/anti-protons
! p + p̄ p + p̄ ! + pairs or neutrons/anti-neutron pairs. The anti-
! n + n̄ n + n̄ ! + protons and anti-neutrons annihilate away, leaving a
very small number of protons and neutrons
n̄ + ¯ $ p̄ + ē n + ē $ p + ¯ (compared to number of photons). This signals the
n+ $p+e n̄ + e $ p̄ + end of the hadron era...

means reaction occurs both ways

 T = 109 K
The Lepton Era
t = 10 s
Lepton era
4
t = 10 s T = 1012 K
Hadron era
At the end of the Hadron era, the Universe is left t = 10 6
s T = 1013 K
with photons, neutrinos & anti-neutrinos, electrons
& positrons, and a `hand-full’ of protons & neutrons. Quark Soup
Since there are about 1 billion times as many 33
T = 1027 K
t = 10 s inflation
electrons as protons (they are continuously being t = 10 35
s T = 1028 K
created out of photons), this period is called the
t = 10 43
s ???? ???? T = 1032 K
Lepton era (leptons are elementary particles that
are not made out of quarks; electrons & neutrinos).

After about 10 s , when Universe has cooled to a

Main reactions during Lepton era temperature of about 109 K , the photons no longer
have enough energy to produce electron-positron
! e + ē e + ē ! + pairs. The positrons annihilate away, leaving a very
n+ $p+e n + ē $ p + ¯ small number of electrons (the same number as
protons). This signals the end of the lepton era...

At the end of the Lepton era, the Universe is left with photons, neutrinos & anti-neutrinos, and
a `hand-full’ of electrons, protons and neutrons that take part in weak-reactions that convert
protons into neutrons and vice-versa. For every proton there is roughly one neutron, one electron
and ~2,000,000,000 (2 billion) photons.
 The Demise of the Neutrons

At the end of the Lepton era, the main reaction in the Universe is n+ $p+e

mn = 1.6749 10 27
kg Since the neutron is slightly more massive than the
proton, it is energetically easier to convert a neutron
mp = 1.6726 10 27
kg in a proton than the other way around.

At early times, when the Universe is still very hot (and all particles have lots of energy),
this difference is negligible, and both reactions occur equally frequent. However, by the
end of the Lepton era, it becomes basically impossible to create the heavier neutrons out
of the lighter protons.

n+ $p+e n+ p+e n p+e+¯

If this reaction would continue, all neutrons would But neutrons continue to decay via
disappear. However, because of expansion of Universe, the above beta-decay reaction.
reaction rate become negligibly small (probability that Unless something happens, all
neutron encounters neutrino becomes very, very small). neutrons will have disappeared
Detailed calculations show that when this reaction before Universe is 1 year old....
stops, nn /np 0.2
Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis t = 300 s
t = 10 s
BBN
T = 109 K
Lepton era
Fortunately for mankind, something does happen: t = 10 4
s T = 1012 K
Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN): neutrons and 6
Hadron era
t = 10 s T = 1013 K
protons start to combine to produce Helium nuclei.
Once a neutron is locked up in a nucleus, it can no
longer decay (it is stable against beta-decay). Quark Soup

t = 10 33
s T = 1027 K
inflation
t = 10 35
s T = 1028 K

t = 10 43
s ???? ???? T = 1032 K

The reactions involved in BBN are very similar to

the pp-chain reactions that cause Hydrogen fusion
in the interior of stars, with one small difference.
In stellar interiors: 4p --> He,
The pp-chain whereas in BBN: 2p + 2n --> He.

Question:
NOTE: in principle, a direct reaction such as what is the reason for this difference?
2n + 2p --> He, would be much more effective.
However, this is a four-body interaction, which The reason for this difference is that there are
is extrely rare (four particles need to `bump’ no free neutrons in stellar interiors (they are all
into each other simultaneously. locked up in He nuclei ever since BBN).
 Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis
BBN proceeds very rapidly. Once the conditions are such that Deuterium can be produced
via the reaction p + n D + , which happens when Universe is about 100 seconds old,
the entire network of reactions proceeds rapidly. About 300 seconds after the Big-Bang all
neutrons have been locked-up in Helium nuclei, and BBN is over.

Since all neutrons end up in helium nuclei, we can calculate the mass fraction of Helium at
end of BBN. Let nn and np indicate number densities of neutrons and protons at onset of
BBN, respectively. If we ignore the tiny difference in mass between protons and neutrons,
we can write the mass fraction of Helium at the end of BBN simply as:

4(nn /2) 2(nn /np )

Y = =
np + nn 1 + (nn /np )

Here we have used that (i) you require 2 neutrons to make one Helium nucleus,
and (ii) a Helium nucleus weights 4 times as much as a proton or neutron.

Detailed calculations show that, at the onset of BBN, the neutron-to-proton

ratio is nn /np 0.14. This implies a Helium mass abundance of Y 0.25

Observations show that, throughout Universe, baryonic matter is 75% H, and 25% He.
This is another confirmation of Big Bang cosmology (in addition to the CMB).
 Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis
Question: why doesn’t BBN continue to convert Hydrogen and Helium into Carbon,
Oxygen, Nitrogen, etc, etc, as in the interiors of (massive) stars?

Answer: because those reactions require higher

densities and temperatures than Hydrogen
fusion. Once neutrons have fused into Helium,
Universe is cooler and less dense than when it
started; conditions do not allow formation of any
CMB constraint

elements heavier than Lithium (which is a minute

byproduct of Helium formation)

Emergence of a concordance cosmology:

the observed element abundances are in
excellent agreement with predictions based
on baryon density inferred from CMB data...

Black boxes and lines indicate observational constraints.

Colored lines indicate model predictions.
Cyan line indicates baryon density inferred from CMB
 We’re all stardust....
About 3 minutes after the Big Bang, the only elements available in the
Universe are Hydrogen (~75%), Helium (~25%) and a tiny amount of Lithium.

Supernovae,

the cradles of life....

All elements heavier than Lithium have since been synthesized inside stars,
and distributed over the Universe via stellar winds and supernovae.
 The Composition of the Universe
density evolution What is the Universe made of?
recombination present

log(⇢) ma
tte
r
vacuum

ra
di
at
i on

log(a)

Note: neutrinos behave as photons, and their

At Recombination Today
energy density therefore falls off as radiation
(i.e., faster than matter)

Our concordance cosmology is called ΛCDM (`Lambda-CDM’), to indicate that it

postulates a Universe comprised of both (Cold) dark matter and Dark Energy
(represented by the cosmological constant Λ). At present, only ~4 percent of the
total energy density in the Universe is in the form of regular (baryonic) matter.
 The Radiation Era t = 105 yr
radiation era
T = 104 K

t = 300 s
At the end of BBN, the Universe consists of t = 10 s
BBN
T = 109 K
photons, neutrinos & anti-neutrinos, and a `hand- Lepton era
full’ of free electrons, hydrogen nuclei and helium t = 10 4
s T = 1012 K
nuclei (in addition to dark matter; at this point in 6
Hadron era
t = 10 s T = 1013 K
time dark energy is still completely negligible)

Quark Soup
The energy density is dominated by radiation,
t = 10 33
s T = 1027 K
hence the name `radiation era’. Not much happens 35 inflation
T = 1028 K
t = 10 s
during this period; the Universe continues to
expand and cool down.... t = 10 43
s ???? ???? T = 1032 K

After ~100,000 years, when temperature has dropped to ~10,000K, matter (baryonic + dark)
becomes dominant component of the Universe (we enter `matter era’). A little bit later, when
Universe is 380,000 years old and T = 3000K, free electrons combine with H and He nuclei
to produce neutral atoms (recombination). This is the epoch of the CMB

For the next ~13Gyr, the Universe continues to expand and

cool down; slowly the tiny density perturbations visible in
the CMB grow to produce galaxies and clusters, until dark
energy takes over and quenches structure growth....
 Summary
t = 13.73 Gyr T = 2.726 K present
t = 9 Gyr T = 5K Solar system forms

matter era structure formation

t = 106 yr T = 3000 K recombination --> CMB

t = 105 yr T = 104 K matter-radiation equality ¯ H He e D Li
radiation era

t = 300 s ¯ H He e D Li
BBN BBN = Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis
t = 10 s T = 109 K ¯ p n e
Lepton era
t = 10 4
s T = 1012 K ¯ p n e ē
Hadron era
t = 10 6
s T = 1013 K quark-hadron phase transition ¯ p p̄ n n̄ e ē

Quark Soup
e ē
t = 10 33
s 27
T = 10 K ¯ q q̄
inflation
t = 10 35
s T = 1028 K

t = 10 43
s ???? ???? T = 1032 K
Big Bang
Inflation
 Big Bang Cosmology
After the discovery of the CMB, the Big Bang model was the main cosmological model. It was
strongly supported by (i) observed expansion of Universe, (ii) presence of Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB) and (iii) the observed abundances of Hydrogen and Helium (BBN).

BBN
CMB
Expansion

The Three Pillars

of Big-Bang Cosmology
 Big Bang Problems
However, there were also four potentially important problems with Big Bang Theory:

The Horizon Problem

The Flatness Problem

The Magnetic Monopole Problem

The Perturbation Problem

? As we shall see, none of these were really problems

in the sense that they falsified Big-Bang cosmology;
one could `solve’ them by simply postulating certain
initial conditions of the Universe. Nevertheless,
cosmologists were unhappy with such a `solution’,
and were hoping that a more satisfactory solution
would arise from quantum-gravity (a `unification’ of
CM si on Einstein’s General Relativity and Quantum Theory)...
n
N

B Expa To this date, we do not understand quantum-gravity!!

BB
 The Horizon Problem

The blue circles indicate the horizon of each jack-in-the-box, the moment they are opened.
Observations show us that the photons from each of these jack-in-the-boxes are (almost)
-5
the same (ΔT/T < 10 K).....but how could they have agreed on their temperature?
 The Horizon Problem

last-scattering
surface

observer

Consider two jack-in-the-boxes, located 180 degrees away from each other on the last-
scattering surface. The material in each jack-in-the-box can only have been in causal contact
(i.e., “communicated with”) material within its own horizon. It therefore could only have
established thermal equilibrium within its own horizon. But then how did all jack-in-the-
boxes get to be at the same temperature (how did they establish thermal equilibrium)?
 The Horizon Problem
time Here is another illustration of the
Horizon Problem. It shows a space-time
observer diagram. At the top is the observer at
Present
the present. The light-gray triangle
indicates the observer’s horizon; he can
only have received photons from events
horizons of two (things that happened at a location at a
jack-in-the-boxes
given time) within this triangle.
horizon
of
observer
It also shows the horizons of two jack-
in-the-boxes opening at recombination
(=two events). Although both events lie
within the observer’s horizon, the two
Recombination
jack-in-the-boxes cannot have
Big-Bang communicated with each other prior to
recombination; hence, they cannot have
location established thermal equilibrium.

Prior to 1980, the “solution” to this Horizon Problem was simply to postulate that after the
Big Bang the initial conditions were such that the temperature in space was everywhere the
same (except for tiny fluctuations, the origin of which was unclear)...
 The Horizon Problem
What would we have observed if the temperature of the Universe was NOT homogeneous?

hotter colder

Jack-in-the-box Jack-in-the-box
opens later opens earlier

B A

Everywhere in space, jack-in-the-boxes open when their local temperature reaches 3000K.

In direction of box A, I see photons that have been redshifted more than in direction of B.
Hence, in direction of A my CMB appears colder than in direction of B....
 The Flatness Problem

Ω m (t) + r (t) + (t)

(t) =
crit (t)
Ω>1
3H 2 (t)
⇥crit (t) =
8 G

1 Ω=1
Since densities evolve with time
(due to expansion of Universe), and
since the critical density evolves with
Ω<1 time, due to evolution of Hubble
parameter, the density parameter Ω
0 evolves with time. The diagram to the
BB time left shows how....

If present-day Universe is flat (Ω 0 = 1), then Ω has been unity since the Big Bang.

If present-day Universe is positively curved (Ω 0 > 1), then Ω was only slightly larger
than unity shortly after the Big Bang: At t=10-43s we need to have that Ω = 1 + 10
-59

If present-day Universe is negatively curved (Ω 0 < 1), then Ω was only slightly less
than unity shortly after the Big Bang: At t=10 -43s we need to have that Ω = 1 - 10 -59
 The Flatness Problem
m (t) + r (t) + (t)
Ω (t) =
crit (t)
Ω>1 3H 2 (t)
⇥crit (t) =
8 G

1 Ω=1 This constitutes the so-called

Flatness Problem: unless Universe
was perfectly flat from the start,
Ω<1 it must have been extremely close
to `flat’ shortly after the Big Bang.
0 There were two schools of thought
BB time for how to `solve’ this problem:

If Universe must have been arbitrarily close to flat, it is more `likely’ that it always has
1 been exactly flat. However, the total observed matter density (dark & baryonic) is
insufficient to make the Universe flat (dark energy was not considered a realistic option)

Initial conditions of Universe were simply such that Ω was initially extremely close to, but
not exactly equal to, unity. This results in fine-tuning problem: to end up with present-day
2 value for Ω that is close to unity, you need to fine-tune Ω shortly after the Big-Bang to
extreme precision
 The Magnetic Monopole Problem
Question: what happens to this magnet when you cut it in half?

A B

one South magnet + one North magnet two new North-South magnets

Experience tells us that there are no magnetic monopoles; a hypothetical particle

that is a magnet with only one magnetic pole. This is an important difference
between electricity and magnetism: whereas you have electrical monopoles (i.e.,
electron, proton), there seem to be no magnetic monopoles...
 The Magnetic Monopole Problem
Maxwell Equations ...with magnetic monopoles
· E = 4⇡⇢e · E = 4⇡⇢e
·B=0 exam · B = 4⇡⇢m exam
for for
d
ui red1 B u1i re⇥B 4
r ⇥t rEeq= r ⇥ E t=req jm
No c t No c ⇥t c
1 ⇥E 4 1 ⇥E 4
r⇥B= je r⇥B= je
c ⇥t c James Maxwell c ⇥t c

Maxwell’s equations basically state that there are no magnetic monopoles. Maxwell obtained
his equations using empirical fact that no magnetic monopoles had ever been observed.

If magnetic monopoles do exist, his equations need to be modified slightly; they would
become even more symmetric (more beautiful!!)

Quantum Field Theory (QFT) predicts the existence of magnetic monopoles. According
to QFT the magnetic monopoles are very massive and abundant. In fact, according to
QFT there should be so many magnetic monopoles that they dominate the matter
density in the Universe. However, to this date, no-one has ever seen a single magnetic
monopole. This is called the Magnetic Monopole Problem.
 The Perturbation Problem
The Cosmic Microwave Background reveals tiny perturbations in the temperature
-5
of the Universe at the epoch of recombination (ΔT/T < 10 K). As we have seen,
these temperature perturbations are caused by perturbations in the density of
the dark matter.

But where did these density perturbations come from?

This constitutes the perturbation problem.

Prior to 1980, it was simply assumed that these density perturbations were part
of the initial conditions....for some reason the Universe simply started out with
tiny fluctuations in its density...
 Inflation
In 1980, the theoretical physicist Alan Guth (then at Cornell) came up
with a concept, called inflation, to solve the magnetic monopole problem.
He soon realized inflation also solves the horizon problem, the flatness
problem, and even the perturbation problem...
Ever since, inflation has been a key-ingredient of Big-Bang cosmology.
Alan Guth

So what is inflation? It is a period in which Universe experiences exponential expansion.

Before we investigate what might cause this to happen, let’s investigate why this
solves the various problems mentioned above....

Exponential expansion means that the scale factor evolves according to a(t) / et/
Here ⌧ is called the e-folding time; it is the time in which the scale factor
(and therefore the size of the Universe) increases by a factor e = 2.71828....

After 2 e-folding times, the Universe has increased by a factor e2 = 7.8

After 10 e-folding times, the Universe has increased by a factor e10 = 2.2 x 104
After 60 e-folding times, the Universe has increased by a factor e60 = 1.1 x 1026
 Inflation
Let’s assume that very shortly after the Big Bang (at t ⇠ 10 35 s ) the Universe enters a
period of exponential expansion. If the e-folding time is sufficiently short, say ⌧ ⇠ 10 35 s
then after a very short period, say at t ⇠ 10 33 s, the Universe would have experienced
exponential expansion for ~100 e-folding times, which would have increased the size of the
Universe by a factor e100 = 2.7 ⇥ 1043 !!! Two particles that at t ⇠ 10 35 s are 1 mm away
from each other, at t ⇠ 10 33 s will be separated by a bewildering 8.7 ⇥ 1017 Mpc .

For comparison:

Our present-day horizon is only

about 3000 Mpc.

Since recombination, (about 13 Gyrs

ago)the Universe has only expanded
CMB by a factor 1000:

Now arec = 1/(1 + zrec ) = 1/1101 ' 0.001

 The Horizon Problem Solved
time If inflation lasted long enough, then
each point on the last-scattering
observer surface could have been inside each
Present
others horizon the moment inflation
started. Detailed calculations show
that the number of e-folding times
required is at least ~60.

horizon
of In fact, the entire volume inside our
observer
present-day horizon was at the
moment inflation started located
inside a tiny, minuscule volume, that
Recombination was much smaller than the size of
Recombination
the horizon at that time; i.e., all
Big-Bang
Big-Bang regions within our present-day
horizon have been in causal contact
location with each other prior to inflation.

If inflation lasted for at least 60 e-folding times,

the horizon problem is solved.
 The Flatness Problem Solved
Inflation solves the flatness problem, simply because it `predicts’ that the Universe
is (very, very, very, very) close to flat: it was stretched into a flat geometry...
This is independent of the geometry it had before the onset of inflation.

Inflation predicts a Universe that is very, very

close to flat; there is no flatness problem.
 The Magnetic Monopole Problem Solved.
If magnetic monopoles already existed before inflation started, then inflation will
have reduced their number density by a factor e 3N , where N is number of e-folding
times that inflation lasted. Starting from the number density predicted before
inflation, we expect to find roughly one magnetic monopole within our entire visible
Universe: it is not a surprise that we haven’t seen that one yet......

Inflation dilutes the Universe by a huge factor.

This solves the magnetic monopole problem.
The Physics of
Inflation
ex am
r t he
d f o
ui r e
t r eq
i al is n o
at er
m
This
 What causes Inflation?
Having established that inflation, an early period of exponential expansion, can solve many
problems, we now examine what physical mechanism can cause such exponential expansion.

So what causes inflation? The answer is simple; a scalar field, called the inflaton.

Recall: dark energy is also a scalar field. As we have seen, if it dominates the energy density,
then it causes the Universe to accelerate its expansion. It is straightforward to show
that in fact, the expansion is exponential. The only difference between inflation and
dark energy is that the inflaton dominates the energy density shortly after the Big
Bang, and has an extremely small e-folding time ( 10 35 s ), while dark energy
dominates the energy density in the present-day Universe and has a much longer
e-folding time of 10 Gyr 3 1017 s

Inflation is caused by a scalar field, called the inflaton,

which dominates the energy density of the Universe for a
short period of ~10 -33s, starting ~10 -35 s after Big Bang.
 The Physics of Scalar Fields
Okay, so we have postulated the existence of (yet another) scalar field, the inflaton.
But how do we establish that it dominates the energy density of the Universe only for
a certain amount of time?

To understand this, we need to look at the physics of scalar fields:

A scalar field assigns to each point in space a value, ' . Associated with that value is a
certain potential energy, Epot = V ( ) . Here V is some function; the exact form of
this function is simply a property of the scalar field under consideration. Scalar fields
differ from each other in the functional form of the potential energy...
In addition to potential energy, a scalar field also has kinetic energy. This is associated
with the rate at which ' changes over time. Let this rate be written as '˙ . Then, the
total energy density of the scalar field is

1 2
Etot ( ) = Ekin + Epot = ˙ +V( )
2
 The Physics of Scalar Fields
Consider a scalar field with potential V(φ), as
V( ) illustrated. Consider point in space where scalar field
has a value φ. It will then have a potential energy
indicated by green ball. Just like a ball wants to roll
down to center of valley, the scalar field will evolve
towards state in which it has minimum potential
energy; the scalar field starts to `roll down’ its
potential well, converting potential energy into
kinetic energy. However, since its total energy is
conserved, it will start an oscillation back-and-forth.

V( )

1 2 energy high
Etot ( ) = Ekin + Epot = ˙ +V( )
2

The amplitude of these oscillations depends on the

energy of the scalar field at the location in question: energy low
if the scalar field has a high energy density, it will
have large oscillations; if it has low energy density,
the oscillations will be small....
 Physics of Inflation
To have the inflaton behave the way we want, we need to couple it to the energy density
of radiation (which dominates the Universe at early times). This effectively means that
the inflaton is in thermal equilibrium with the radiation field. As Universe cools down, the
energy density in radiation decreases, and because of coupling, energy density of inflaton
decreases at exactly the same rate.

V( ) If this was the entire story, then while

the energy density in radiation
decreases, so does the energy density
of the inflaton; it never becomes
at early times, T high
dominant, and we never enter a period
of inflation....

at later times, T lower

We need one more trick.....

The shape of V(φ) changes with the

temperature of the radiation field.
 The Onset of Inflation
V( ) Below a critical temperature, the shape
T<Tcrit T>Tcrit of the inflaton potential suddenly
changes dramatically. From having one
E(rad) minimum, it suddenly takes on two
global minima and one local minimum.

Initially, when T>Tcrit , inflaton is

coupled to radiation field, and its
E(rad)
energy density decreases over time
as seen before.
E(rad)

However, once the temperature drops

below the critical temperature, the
scalar field gets stuck in the local
minimum around φ=0; this is called the
false vacuum state. From this point on,
the energy density of the inflaton is
Inflation happens once the inflaton gets stuck equal to E = V(φ=0), and is larger than
in a “false vacuum” state of its potential.... that of radiation: INFLATION
 How does Inflation Stop?
V( ) During inflation, inflaton is stuck in
T<Tcrit false-vacuum state. During this period
energy density of inflaton dominates
energy density of the Universe, and
Universe experiences inflation.

Question: But how do we stop inflation?

Answer: Quantum Tunneling

Inflaton `tunnels’ through potential

False
Text barrier, after which it starts to fall
towards true vacuum state, converting
True Vacuum True
Vacuum Vacuum its energy into radiation and matter
(this is the matter we see in our
Universe; the matter that existed
before inflation has been inflated
away.....). Once inflaton has reached
Inflation stops after inflaton tunnels through true vacuum state, its energy density
potential barrier. It then takes on its true is zero, and inflaton is no longer of any
relevance for evolution of Universe.
vacuum state, meanwhile converting its energy
(latent heat) into regular matter & radiation.
 But what about Perturbation Problem?

Quantum physics dictates that on very small scales,

energy density associated with inflaton fluctuates...

During inflation, these quantum fluctuations get stretched out to fluctuations in energy
density on HUGE scales; when inflation ends, and the latent heat of inflaton is converted
into matter & radiation, these fluctuations become perturbations in matter density field
 Inflation Summary
Inflation is a short period (~10 -33 s) of exponential expansion shortly after the Big Bang
(starting at t~10 -35 s). It lasts for at least 60 e-folding times, which stretches space by
a factor of at least 1026 . Inflation is driven by a scalar field, the inflaton, which initially
is coupled to the radiation field, until it gets stuck in a false vacuum state. It then
dominates the energy density of the Universe, causing exponential expansion, until it
tunnels to the true vacuum state, converting its latent heat into radiation and matter.

Inflation rocks because:

Inflation rocks It solves the Horizon Problem; it assures that all matter
inside our present-day horizon has been in causal contact

It solves the Flatness Problem; it predicts that Universe

is very, very close to flat (i.e., that Ω=1 to high precision)

It solves Magnetic Monopole Problem; magnetic monopoles

do exist, but they have been diluted to ~1 per horizon.

It solves Perturbation Problem; it predicts existence of

tiny perturbations on all scales.These arise from quantum
fluctuations in inflaton that are stretched to large scales.
Structure
Formation
What we have learned thus far....

We live in an expanding Universe.

Universe was hotter & denser at earlier times

Presently, energy density of Universe is dominated

by some unknown stuff called dark energy, which
causes expansion rate to accelerate

Most of the matter in the Universe is some

unknown stuff called Cold Dark Matter...

Only ~4 percent of energy density in Universe is

in form of `normal’ (we say baryonic) matter.

Shortly after Big Bang, Universe experienced

inflation, during which tiny density perturbations
have been created. We believe these are the
seeds of all structure formation...
 The Universe in a Nutshell
Astronomers have mapped the distribution of millions of galaxies.
Galaxies are found to be distributed in a filamentary web, the cosmic web.

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey : 1 million galaxies

The Apache Point Telescope
in New Mexico

Note the foamy, sponge-like distribution of galaxies.

 The Puzzle of Structure Formation

At recombination: Today, within Solar radius of MW

13 Gyr

⇥¯
| | < 10 5
10 5 ⇥(x)
= ⇥¯
(x)
The temperature perturbations observed in the CMB tell us that
at the time of recombination, the density perturbations were
tiny (less than 1 part in 100,000). At the present, however, we
see huge density perturbations; for example, the average density
of our own Milky Way is about 100,000 times larger than that of
the Universe (we say that its overdensity is δ=100,000).

How did these perturbations grow by more than 10 orders of magnitude?

 Gravitational Instability
A region that is slightly denser than its environment will pull matter towards
itself, thus becoming more over-dense. An under-dense region becomes more
under-dense because its matter is pulled away towards an over-dense region...

Hence, density perturbations automatically

overdensity

Evolution of overdensities.. grow with time, simply due to the working of

gravity. This is called gravitational instability,
and it is the mechanism that causes tiny
perturbations to become big perturbation...

This process of growth continues until the

perturbations are of order unity (δ~1).
At that point in time, the perturbations
`turn around’ and start to collapse...

comoving position
 The Collapse of Perturbations

e
Physical Size

ers
Univ
n of
n sio
xpa
e overdensity

???

turn-around
Time

Initially, the physical size of an over-dense region increases due to the expansion of the
Universe (i.e., the over-density is not gravitationally bound to itself and therefore
experiences expansion). Consequently, its density goes down, while its over-density increases
(in other words, its density decreases less rapidly than the average density of the Universe).
Once the overdensity becomes of order unity (δ~1), the overdensity stops growing in size, and
starts to collapse under its own gravity (i.e., we say that the overdensity `turns around’).
 The Evolution of a Shell of Dark Matter

Onion Model

It is useful to think of an over-density as

a spherical region that consists of many
individual shells, much like an onion...

The movie shows the evolution one such shell: initially it expands with the Universe; when
the overdensity inside the shell reaches δ~1, the shell turns around and collapses towards
the center. Dark matter (whatever it is) is assumed to be collisionless; this means that the
shell simply moves through itself, and starts to expand again; it starts an oscillation, during
which it converts kinetic energy into potential energy and vice versa....
 The Formation of a Dark Matter Halo
physical size

vir
iali
zat
ion

time

Individual oscillating shells interact gravitationally, exchanging energy (they `virialize’).

This ends the oscillations and results in a virialized dark matter halo. The word virialized
simply expresses that the system finds a balance between kinetic and potential energy...
 Evolution of a Shell of Baryonic Matter

Onion Model
The End Result

Let’s reconsider our onion model. Now imagine

that each shell consists of baryonic rather
than dark matter; unlike the dark matter, the A dark matter halo
baryonic matter is collisional!!! filled with hot gas

This means that it has a net pressure; a shell of regular (baryonic) matter cannot just move
through itself; rather it bumps into itself, creating a shock. This shock heats up the
4 7
baryonic gas to a high temperature (depending on the mass of the halo T ~ 10 - 10 K).
Hence, the end-product of the collapse of an overdensity consisting of both dark matter
and baryonic matter is a virialized dark matter halo filled with hot, shock-heated gas.
 The Collapse of Perturbations

e
Physical Size

ers
Univ
n of
n sio
xpa
e overdensity

???

turn-around
Time

Evolution after turn-around depends on nature of matter

Dark Matter = collisionless shell crossing

Baryonic Matter = collisional shock heating
 The
Hierarchical Growth
of
Dark Matter Halos
A region in space in which 5 dark matter haloes have formed
Dark matter haloes attract each other gravitationally...
consequently, they move towards each other....
and merge together, to form bigger haloes....
with substructure
 Numerical N-body Simulations
The detailed collapse and hierarchical formation/evolution of dark matter haloes,
although only governed by gravity, is a very complex process; simply analytical
methods are insufficient to make detailed predictions. Instead, astronomers use
numerical N-body simulations on supercomputers to study these processes.

How to run a N-body simulation?

1) Distribute many (millions) of particles over
a cubic box; make sure their distribution is
not random, but reveals tiny perturbations,
similar to those seen in the CMB...

2) Let the box `expand’ (mimic Universal

expansion), and compute the gravitational
force on each particle due to all other
particles in the box.

3) Propagate each particle according to the

gravitational force (acceleration) it feels...

4) Go to 2, and repeat this process many, many

times (many `time-steps’), until the total time
covered represents the age of the Universe.
Distribution of dark matter with
tiny fluctuations in initial density
 Note the foamy, sponge-like distribution of the dark matter;
this is very reminiscent of the observed distribution of galaxies
A Close-Up View of a Dark Matter Halo
 The
Formation
of
Galaxies
 Cooling & Disk Formation
Hot gas radiates, emits
photons which carry away
energy: the gas cools

Due to pressure loss,

gas starts to contract

Because of angular momentum

conservation, the cooling baryons
Note that the dark spin up and form a thin disk
matter does NOT cool

Inside the disk the density gets very high, causing fragmentation
and star formation: a disk galaxy is born...

Movie of Simulation of Disk Formation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9za1CP9ImA

If dark matter haloes host galaxies, clusters are a natural
outcome of hierarchical formation in CDM Universe

i es colli d e??
hen t w o galax
hat happen sw
But w
When two disk galaxies collide...

...an elliptical galaxy is formed.

Galaxy Formation in a nutshell...

Small perturbations, due to quantum fluctuations,

grow and collapse to form dark matter haloes

Baryonic gas is shock heated to high temperatures

Baryonic gas cools and settles in center of halo;

angular momentum conservation --> disk galaxy

Disks merge giving rise to population of ellipticals

especially in denser environments (clusters)