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Friday, 5 October 2007, 14:30 in K9500
Prof. Douglas Scott (UBC)
The Standard Cosmological Model (physics colloquium)
All empirical evidence relating to our Universe is currently well explained through a fairly simple model, composed of only a few key ingredients. The background is described by homogeneous and isotropic solutions within General Relativity, in which there is domination by vacuum energy and cold dark matter in a flat expanding geometry. On top of this background are fluctuations in density which were laid down at early times and are nearly scale-invariant, adiabatic and Gaussian. From these low amplitude seeds all of today's structure grew through gravitational instability. Within this "Standard Model" the Universe in which we live is described by fewer than 10 numbers, most of which are now known to at least the first digit. So what is left to do? How well should we determine the cosmological parameters? Where did these values come from? Are there more numbers that we haven't thought of yet? Is this Cosmological Standard Model anything like the Standard Model of Particle Physics?
Seminars in 2007:
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Modified by Andrei Frolov <frolov@sfu.ca> on 2023-11-01