PCS181 Notes

Inflationary Cosmology = Inflation

Pairs of virtual particles pop into existence from the vacuum
and quickly annihilate each other
Virtual particles are permitted to exist by the laws of quantum
mechanics
o Proven to exist by the Casimir experiment
Inflation -> pre Big Bang there was an infinite energy field
Our universe simply popped into existence as some of this
energy spontaneously converted to matter
o E = mc2 -> m = E/c2
Our brand-new, still small universe achieved thermal equilibrium
Next a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, the Universe
expanded dramatically by a factor of ~ 1030
Same temperature regions became widely-separated
o Explains the universal CMB = 2.728K ~ 3K
The inflation process is never-ending
Other Big Bangs arise from infinite vacuum to produce other
universes
Unit 3: Galaxies
Recall COBE satellite which confirmed
o The CMB ~ 3K (2.728K)
COBE was later asked to seek very small temperature variations
in the CMB
o Found tiny temperature deviations of +/- 0.0003K

Pink Regions = 2.728 + 0.0003K

Blue Regions = 2.728 - 0.0003K

PCS181 Notes

Galaxy theorists hypothesize that galaxies condensed at the

interface between warmer and cooler volumes of space

Galaxy Formation 2
o The first stars formed after the Big Bang were extremely
massive, hundreds of times the mass of our Sun
o These stars only lived a few million years and exploded as
supernovae, leaving black holes as remnants
o These massive black holes attracted gas/dust into orbit
o Over time, more matter was attracted until a galactic mass
was present
o Massive black holes are found at the centers of most
galaxies
Properties
o A galxy is a gravitationally-bound collection of stars, gas,
dust, radiation
o Galaxies range from thousands to hundreds of thousands
of lightyears across
o Galaxies contain from thousands to trillions of stars
o Galaxies usually gather into groups
The Milky Way Galaxy
o About 100,000 to 120,000 lightyears across
o Our MW is in the Local Group which consists of about 40+
member galaxies
o Our Sun lies about 8kpc ~ 26,000ly from the center of the
Milky Way
o Our Sun travels around the Milky Way galaxy at ~ 220 km/s
o Our Earth travels around the sun at ~ 28km/s
Globular Clusters
o A spherical distribution of ~ 105 to 106 stars
o Typically only a few hundred lightyears across
Density is 0.5 stars/pc3 to 1000 stars/pc3
o Formed early in the life of a galaxy and contain the oldest
stars known
o Follow random paths through their home galaxy -> do not
move ~ circularly in the plane (disk) of the galaxy as most
stars do
o Found above, below and within their galaxy
The Hubble Classification System
o Spiral S
o Barred Spiral SB
o Elliptical E
o Irregulars Irr

PCS181 Notes
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