particle collider the Bullet Cluster

E X T R A G A L A C T I C
A S T RO N O M Y
STEPHEN M. WILKINS
+ MARK SARGENT

Centaurus A The Cosmic Microwave

Background
 particle collider the Bullet Cluster

LECTURE 5
THE GEOMETRY OF THE
UNIVERSE AND
DISTANCES

Centaurus A The Cosmic Microwave

Background
 Monday Lecture Tuesday Lecture

Observational Cosmology
The Friedmann Equations
Introduction, the Contents of Galaxies and - Newtonian Derivation of the Friedmann
Week 1
the Expansion of the Universe Equation
- Hubble’s law (again)

Simple Cosmological Models

The Early Universe
- Solutions to the Friedmann Equations
- The Cosmic Microwave Background
Week 2 - Dust Solution
- Formation of the light elements
- Big Bang vs. Steady State
- Radiation Solution

Observational Cosmology Dark Energy & the Ultimate Fate of

- Geometry of the Universe
the Universe
Week 3 - Distances in Cosmology
- The discovery of something wrong
- The size of the Universe
- The ultimate fate of the Universe
- Using SN to probe distances
 LAST TIME

Last time we talked about the

observed existence of the
CMBR and light element
abundances as evidence that
the Universe went through a hot
big bang. That is, it went
through a period in its history
when it was much hotter and
denser.
 LAST TIME

These observations however

hinted at something wrong with
our simple model. Are there are
any other tests we can run?
 LEARNING
OUTCOMES

You will:

• be introduced to the concept of the Universe’s geometry

• understand the concept of critical density and the density

parameter.

• be able to employ the comoving distance - redshift relationship

• understand the distinction between the comoving distance, the

angular diameter distance, and the luminosity distance
 GEOMETRY OF THE
UNIVERSE

The full Friedmann equation looks like this,

Thus far we haven’t really discussed this final term. This actually
encodes the geometry of the Universe and is often called the curvature
term.
 GEOMETRY OF THE
UNIVERSE

There are several reasons why I’ve chosen to largely ignore this
term:

• The geometrical background is beyond the scope of this

module.
• A non-zero curvature term makes solving the Friedmann
equation much harder (most of the time).
• In our Universe the curvature term is measured to be consistent
with zero.
 GEOMETRY OF THE
UNIVERSE

closed

There are 3 possible

regimes, each
open
corresponding to a different
geometry.

flat
 WHY IS CURVATURE
IMPORTANT?
For a Universe containing matter or radiation, the curvature term
dominates at late times if it is non-zero.
 WHY IS CURVATURE
IMPORTANT?
For a Universe containing matter or radiation, the curvature term
dominates at late times.

at late times
 THE CRITICAL
DENSITY
Looking at the Friedmann equation we can define a density which
must ensure the Universe is flat. This is called the critical density.
 THE CRITICAL
DENSITY
Looking at the Friedmann equation we can define a density which
must ensure the Universe is flat. This is called the critical density.

Given that the Hubble parameter depends on time, the critical

density will then vary.

[We will talk more about the critical density in the workshop]
 THE DENSITY
PARAMETER
It is sometimes convenient to define the density in terms of the
critical density; this is called the density parameter.

In a flat (k=0, zero curvature) Universe the total density parameter is

by definition unity. For a Universe with positive curvature (k>1) the
density parameter is >1 and for a Universe with negative curvature
the density parameter is <1.
OPEN UNIVERSE
If the density of the Universe is less than the critical
density, this implies there is negative curvature and
the Universe is open.

This then suggests at late times the scale factor

increases linearly with time:

The Universe expands forever with the size linearly

proportional to the age of the Universe.
CLOSED UNIVERSE

If the density of the Universe is greater than the

critical density, this implies there is positive curvature
and the Universe is closed.

This then suggests at late times the scale factor

decreases - that is the Universe collapses.
CURVATURE
SUMMARY
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE

Different distance measures which are equivalent in a Euclidian

non-expanding space time become different.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE

Different distance measures which are equivalent in a Euclidian

non-expanding space time become different.

This leads to several different of distance definitions:

• Hubble distance
• co-moving/physical distance
• luminosity distance
• angular diameter distance

If we limit ourselves to considering the radial distance between the

Earth and some other object this simplifies somewhat.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE

This is an observationally orientated module (unlike

Introduction to Cosmology). Observers typically measure
a redshift and would like to use this to determine a
distance, or infer a luminosity or size:
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
HUBBLE VELOCITY DISTANCE

Previously we defined Hubble’s law, a relationship

between distance and redshift (or velocity).

This allows us to define our first distance measure. The

Hubble velocity distance*.

However, this actually only works for small z and is an

approximation to a more complicated behaviour.

* there is some confusing terminology at play here. This is NOT the

same as the Hubble length (or distance).
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
COMOVING DISTANCE

It is beyond the scope of this module to actually derive the equation

relating the co-moving distance and redshift, as you need to employ
the space-time metric from GR.

This term is sometimes

This is the
confusingly called the Hubble
dimensionless Hubble
distance or length, and is not
parameter.
the same as distance that
comes out of Hubble’s law.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
COMOVING DISTANCE

The dimensionless Hubble parameter is sensitive to the

expansion history of the Universe, and thus the underlying
Cosmology.

For a Universe containing just matter this is simply,

 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
COMOVING DISTANCE

For a matter dominated Universe with the critical density this is:

Taylor expanding (you should try) and keeping only the first
term recovers Hubble’s law.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
COMOVING DISTANCE
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE

As you can see this converges as z goes to infinity. This

convergence is essentially the size of the observable Universe.

So if we can measure H0 we can measure the size of the

Universe (assuming it is matter dominated).
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE

In a matter dominated Universe we previously derived that the

current age of the Universe was:
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE

In a matter dominated Universe we previously derived that the

current age of the Universe was:

Expressing the size of the Universe in terms of its age we find:

[Is this surprising?]

 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE

In a matter dominated Universe we previously derived that the

current age of the Universe was:

Expressing the size of the Universe in terms of its age we find:

[Is this surprising?] This is larger than just the speed of light times the age of
the Universe. This is because the Universe expands as light
crosses it.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
*We will talk more about this
tomorrow. Included here for
completeness.

For a Universe containing matter AND a cosmological constant*

this is:

In a Universe with a different matter density or including a

different component (e.g. radiation or a cosmological constant)
the relationship between redshift and distance will be different.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE

Critically, the relationship between the co-moving distance and

redshift is dependent on the cosmology.

If we could measure both of these we can constrain the

cosmology.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE

Before we talk about that however, let’s talk about other ways
of defining the distance to an object.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
ANGULAR DIAMETER DISTANCE

In Euclidian geometry the relationship between the angular

size, the intrinsic size of the object, and the distance to the
object is,

We can then define the angular diameter distance as:

small angle approximation

 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
ANGULAR DIAMETER DISTANCE

In Euclidian geometry the relationship between the angular

size, the intrinsic size of the object, and the distance to the
object is,

We can then define the angular diameter distance as:

small angle approximation

 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
ANGULAR DIAMETER DISTANCE

In an expanding Universe this distance definition is no longer

equivalent to the radial co-moving distance.

[can anyone say why?]

 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
ANGULAR DIAMETER DISTANCE

The angular size (in radians) of an object can be written

as,

For a Euclidian Universe this is simply,

 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
ANGULAR DIAMETER DISTANCE

In an expanding Universe this is no longer true. This is

because we are observing the Universe when it is smaller!

The circumference of a circle in an expanding

Universe is then,
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
ANGULAR DIAMETER DISTANCE

It should be obvious then that,

 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
ANGULAR DIAMETER DISTANCE
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
ANGULAR DIAMETER DISTANCE

Galaxies actually look

bigger as you move
them further away after
z~1. Stupid Universe.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
ANGULAR DIAMETER DISTANCE

This is a real pain for observers because it means the light from
distant objects is spread over a larger area, making it more
difficult to detect.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
LUMINOSITY DISTANCE

The luminosity distance is distance that an object would appear

to have, assuming that the inverse square law for the reduction
of light intensity with distance holds.

If you know the Luminosity of an object, and require its flux, then you
need to know the luminosity distance.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
LUMINOSITY DISTANCE

As with the angular diameter distance, the luminosity distance

is not identical to the physical distance.

[any guesses why?]

 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
LUMINOSITY DISTANCE

As with the angular diameter distance, the luminosity distance

is not identical to the physical distance.

There are two effects to deal with,

• The energy of individual photons decreases by a factor of (1+z)
as the Universe expand.
• The number of photons that are received decreases by another
factor of (1+z) thanks to the effects of time dilation.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
LUMINOSITY DISTANCE

This then suggests that:

 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
LUMINOSITY DISTANCE

Objects are fainter than

would be inferred from
their co-moving distances
alone.
 DISTANCES IN AN
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
SURFACE BRIGHTNESS

Putting these two effects together results in the surface

brightness dropping very quickly at high-redshift.

[You will see, in PPS2, why an expanding Universe makes this so

problematic]
 GALAXY DISTANCES

Cepheid variables allow us to measure distances out to a few tens of

Mpc. Beyond that they are simply too faint* to effectively measure.

* While luminous they are still single stars in

galaxies of potentially 100s of billions of stars.

To measure distances without redshifts we then need a new standard

candle.
 NEXT TIME

We will talk more about these observations and introduce an additional

component of the Universe which successfully explains this behaviour.
This is Dark Energy/Cosmological Constant.

More generally we will talk about our current best cosmological model.

We will also take about the future in such a Universe. Spoiler alert: it is
not good.