Harvard University Department of Astronomy

The Cosmological Constant Kinematics I,II References Used in Section (Kinematics I) Analogy with ball in the air, Silk, pp. 102ff. Pictures of dots to show expansion (idea from S. Perlmutter): dots 1, dots 2, dots 3, dots 4, dots 5, dots 6, dots 7, dots 8 Used in Section (Kinematics II) Living with Lambda, by Joanne Cohn Time as a function of redshift: Schematic for a closed and open universe from Space Telescope Distance Measures in Cosmology by D. Hogg (technical article) The standard cosmological model by J. Peebles (somewhat technical) Hubble Constant The Expansion Rate and Size of the Universe, by W. Freedman, Scientific American Article More technical review also by W. Freedman expanding universe illustration and link to animation MAP page on the Hubble constant Hubble Law movies and explanations by D. Smith Hubble Constant essay by M. Guidry Hubble constant introduction by M. White Delta Cephei and the Hubble constant, this star is the prototype cepheid, a type of variable star first used to measure the Hubble constant. (Page by Assoc of Variable Star Observers) Cepheid variables in M100 movies and pictures. A great interactive Cepheid P-L relation from the MACHO project. SCSU M100 distance lab U Washington Hubble Law Lab Hubble Constant Lab from D. Zaritsky course Hubble diagram lab at Gettysburg College, needs mac or pc. Cosmic Distance Measurements --new method by Chandra X-ray Observatory Hubble Constant Article by particle data group (fairly technical) Spatial Curvature Foundations of Big Bang Cosmology page of MAP satellite team The Shape of the Universe at NGST satellite home page Curvature page at NCSA Cosmos in a Computer useful pictures but they say that curvature determines the fate of the universe--it does not if there is a cosmological constant. One needs to evolve the scale factor to see what the universe does with time. Tilings of hyperbolic space by the Geometry Center in U. Minn. Expanding universe PDF file from Space Telescope Spatial Geometry Lesson Plan from NASA's SEU forum at Sonoma State Dynamics Solve the Friedmann equation site by J. Hawley Geometry of the Universe Lecture notes by depoy The Isotropic Universe by J. Peacock discussion in online technical article by Carroll, Press and Turner Discussion of a(t) for various Friedmann cosmologies: Felten & Isaacman, 1986, Rev. Mod. Phys. 58, 689 (technical but basically just solves for different parameter combinations) Article on cosmologies where the universe doesn't ever get small enough in the past ("no big bang"), technical, by Borner and Ehlers Lecture on dynamics and fate of the universe by E. Linder Cosmological constant The Physics of a Cosmological Constant, the electronic universe at U Oregon Historical Reacting to the Size and Shape of the Universe, by C. Impey, Mercury Magazine Jan. 2001 discussion of the response to some discoveries about the universe over time Home Syllabus References Lecture References Useful Links Contact Info Back to Kinematics I outline. Back to Kinematics II outline. Back to Harvard University Department of Astronomy Courses.