Evolution of the universe

At present, the most widely accepted theory for the origin and evolution of the universe to its present form is the hot big bang . > It is supposed that all the matter in the universe... 

S. W. Fox (from 1984, director of the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Evolution of the University of Miami) made the highly controversial suggestion that the amino acid sequences in the proteinoids are not random. Nakashima prepared a thermal polymer from glutamic acid, glycine and tyrosine the analysis showed that two tyrosine-containing tripeptides had been formed pyr-Glu-Gly-Tyr and pyr-Glu-Tyr-Gly (Nakashima et al 1977). The result was confirmed (Hartmann, 1981). A closer examination of the reaction mechanism showed that the formation of these two tripeptides under the reaction conditions used depends on three parameters ... 

After e annihilation during the early evolution of the Universe, the ratio of baryons to photons is, to a very good approximation, preserved down to the present. The baryon density parameter is defined to be this ratio (at present) r] = n /n r/io =... 

The VLT, centrepiece of the ESO, promises an exceptional harvest of astronomical data. Understanding the chemical evolution of the Universe requires a coordinated study of the most remote objects, ancient stars in the galactic halo and absorbent clouds in the line of sight of quasars. To this end, the high-resolution spectrograph UVES (Ultraviolet Echelle Spectrograph) was set at one focus of Kueyen, one of the four components of the VLT, perched at the top... 

Zinc has thus been promoted to the rank of prime evolutionary indicator for galaxies or protogalaxies associated with DLA absorbers. With its help, we aim to measure the chemical evolution of the Universe, because it leaves its signature on the spectra of the most distant objects and because it is predisposed to the gaseous state (Fig. 8.9). 

Unfortunately, there are so many different ways to create universes by compactify-ing the six dimensions that string theory is difficult to relate to the real universe. In 1993, researchers suggested that if string theory takes into account the quantum effects of charged mini black holes, the thousands of 4-D solutions may collapse to only one. Tiny black holes, with no more mass than an elementary particle, and strings may be two descriptions of the same object. Thanks to the theory of mini black holes, physicists now hope to mathematically follow the evolution of the universe and select one particular Calabi-Yau compactification—a first step to a testable theory of everything. ... 

The eighty or more individual numbers we call at. wt., adds T. W. Richards, are perhaps the most striking of the physical records which Nature has given us concerning the earliest stages of the evolution of the universe. They are mute witnesses... 

A pictorial representation of some of the important events in the thermal history of the universe is shown in Figure 12.5. The description of the evolution of the universe begins at 10-43 s after the Big Bang, the so-called Planck time. The universe at that time had a temperature of 1032K kBT 1019GeV) and a volume that was 10-31 of its current volume. [To convert temperature in K to... 

Viola, V. E. LiBeB Nucleosynthesis and Clues to the Chemical Evolution of the Universe, in O. Manuel, Ed., Origin of Elements in the Solar System Implications of Post-1957 Observations, Kluwer, New York, 2000. 

Cosmology is based on the assumption that matter in the early stage of evolution of the Universe was of extraordinarily high density. From this, in 1966, Ya.B. and I. D. Novikov came to the conclusion that the generation of small black holes was possible in the early stages of evolution. Finally, it was shown in a very general form that the collapse of any nonsymmetrical object leads to the creation of an external observable metric which is wholly determined by conserved quantities [55] (with A. G. Doroshkevich and I. D. Novikov). 

Zeldovich Ya. B., Novikov I. D. Stroenie i evoliutsiia Vselennol [Structure and Evolution of the Universe]. Moscow Nauka, 735 p. (1975). 

I come now to the last group of Solvay Conferences the three regarding astrophysical problems. The first one, devoted to The Structure and Evolution of the Universe was held in June 1958. It was the 11th Solvay Conference in Physics.101... 

The theme of the conference was divided into three parts the first one concerned General Statements of Cosmological Theory. It was introduced by speeches by Lemaitre, on the Primaeval Atom Hypothesis and the Problem of Clusters of Galaxies, by Oscar Klein who developed Some Considerations Regarding the Earlier Development of the System of Galaxies, and by Hoyle on The Steady-State Theory. This was followed by a talk by Gold, on the Arrow of Time and another by Wheeler on Some Implications of General Relativity for the Structure and Evolution of the Universe. ... 

For simplicity, we consider the universe to be radiation dominated. This is because the particles, even the highly massive X, Y, and V particles have such large kinetic energies that they behave similar to photons or massless bosons. This state of affairs in the early universe was know to exist up until the universe dropped to a temperature below 103 K 100,000 years into its evolution. For the radiation dominated period in the evolution of the universe the pressure and density were related by... 

As we have seen in other lectures at this school, and in textbooks (Kolb and Turner, 1990 Peebles, 1993 Peacock, 1999), the early Universe was denser and hotter. If we look back far enough, we will find a time when the Universe was so hot that the electrons were stripped from their nuclei matter in the Universe was in the form of a hot, ionized plasma. In this section, we will trace the evolution of the Universe at this time and its repercussions in the visible Universe today. 

In those years Soviet astronomers had the tradition to attend Caucasus Winter Schools. Our results of galactic mass modelling were reported in a Winter School in 1972. The next School was hold near the Elbrus mountain in a winter resort, in January 1974. The bottom line of my report was all giant galaxies have massive coronas, therefore dark matter must be the dominating component in the whole universe (at least 90 % of all matter). In the Winter School prominent Soviet astrophysicists as Zeldovich, Shklovsky, Novikov and others participated. In the discussion after the talk two questions dominated What is the physical nature of the dark matter and What is its role in the evolution of the Universe A detailed report of this study was sent to Nature (Einasto, Kaasik Saar 1974). 

In the nineteenth century the universe was thought of as a collection of particles, the atoms, which obeyed Newton s laws of motion. The future position of every particle was therefore determined by the positions and motions of the particles at any given time. The course of events was therefore fixed by natural law. Free will was impossible. A man seemed to decide what he would do, but the process by which he decided was controlled by natural laws, and the result was determined beforehand. According to this idea it was difficult to believe in any supernatural powers controlling the evolution of the universe, and in particular that of life on the earth. It was, however, extremely difficult not to believe in free will. The conclusion that there is no free will seems to be contrary to the facts and so requires the theory to be modified. Moreover no one really believed that art, literature, religion, and all the other human activities of a more or less spiritual character could be regarded as the results of a purely mechanical process based on Newton s laws of motion. The theory was obviously quite inadequate to explain these facts. 

If the main part of the universe mass is owing to neutrinos, this must have a qualitative effect on the evolution of the universe. If the mass of the neutrino is zero, the observed density of matter in the universe is too small to stop the expansion caused by the Big Bang. However, if the neutrino mass is not zero, the expansion will eventually stop, and the universe will start shrinking and will collapse in some 20-30 billion years. 

The determination and interpretation of element abundances plays an ever-increasing role in our effort to understand the evolution of the Universe. Molecular lines may not contribute to the determination of element abundances but they already play an important role in the determination of isotopic element abundances, and these in turn can be used to discriminate between various possible thermonuclear reaction chains. 

Table 15.2. Evolution of the universe according to the concept of the big bang.

---