THE UNIVERSE

How we came to understand itfrom the theories of the largeand the theories of the small

byMike Petersen

The Universe Large

• The Universe is 13.7 BYO.• It is huge beyond imagination.• It is expanding.• How did we figure this out?

The Universe Large

• Ptolemy and the Geocentric Theory• 2000 years ago

The Universe Large

• Copernicus and the Heliocentric Theory• 500 years ago

The Universe Large

• Galileo and the Telescope• 400 years ago

The Universe Large

• Newton and the Law of Gravity• 350 years ago

The Universe Large

• Einstein and the Theory of Relativity• 100 years ago

The Universe Large

• Special and General Theories of Relativity• Einstein meshed space, time, energy, matter

The Universe Large

• Gravity is warped space-time• Orbits are space-time straight lines

The Universe Large

• Light bends in warped space-time• Proof of General Theory of Relativity - 1922

The Universe Large

• Hubble – Galaxies, Redshift, Expansion• 90 years ago

The Universe Large

• VLT Array – Atacama Desert, Chile• 1995-2005 – Interferometry (8.2M x 4)

The Universe Large

• Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii• 1993 – (10M x 2)

The Universe Large

• Hubble Space Telescope• 1990-2020 – 2.4M

The Universe Large

• James Webb Space Telescope• 2018 – 6.5M Long Wavelength Light to Infrared

The Universe Large

• Big Bang Theory – Plagued by problems• 1927 – Georges Lemaître – 1980 Alan Guth

The Universe Small

• The Universe is 13.7 BYO.• It is small beyond imagination.• It is expanding.• How did we figure this out?• 1.61619926 × 10-35 M

The Universe Small

• Rutherford and the Atom• 110 years ago

The Universe Small

• Bohr and discrete Electron Orbits in the Atom• 100 years ago

The Universe Small

• The Standard Model of Particle Physics• Last 100 years

The Universe Small

• How the sun works – (Nuclear Fusion)• 80 years ago

The Universe Small

• How the sun works – (Nuclear Fusion)• 50 years ago

The Universe Small

• How the sun works – (Nuclear Fusion)• 40-50 years ago

The Universe Large and Small

• We don’t understand a LOT• Dark Matter – Dark Energy• The ‘Lithium Problem’• Quantum Theory and General Relativity• String Theory?• Parallel Universes