Timeline of the Universe

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Timeline of the Universe
The Birth of the Universe Big Bang and Beyond
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vzfZ7tokEwzg
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The Age of the Universe

• NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
  (WMAP) project estimates the age of the universe
  to be
• (13.75 0.11) 109 years.

Seven-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
(WMAP) Observations Sky Maps, Systematic Errors,
and Basic Results, N. Jarosik, C. L. Bennett,
J. Dunkley, B. Gold, M. R. Greason, M. Halpern6,
R. S. Hill, G. Hinshaw, A. Kogut, E. Komatsu, D.
Larson, M. Limon, S. S. Meyer, M. R. Nolta, N.
Odegard, L. Page, K. M. Smith, D. N. Spergel, G.
S. Tucker, J. L. Weiland, E. Wollack, E. L.
Wright, nasa.gov, 2011
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The Distant Past

• 13.75 0.11 billion years ago Universe begins
  with Big Bang
• 1 µsec 1 sec after the BB, protons and neutrons
  formed
• 380,000 years after the BB, hydrogen nuclei
  capture electrons, forming the first atoms
• 100 million years after BB formation of first
  stars
• 600 million years after the BB formation of
  first galaxies
• 5 billion years ago formation of the Sun
• 4.5 billion years ago formation of the Earth -
  start of geologic timescale

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Four Interactions
Theory Interaction mediator Relative Magnitude Behavior Range
Chromo -dynamics Strong interaction gluon 1038 1/r7 1.4 x10-15 m
Electro -dynamics Electro -magnetic interaction photon 1036 1/r2 infinite
Flavor -dynamics Weak interaction W and Z bosons 1025 1/r5 to 1/r7 10-18 m
Geometro -dynamics Gravity graviton 100 1/r2 infinite
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Timeline of the Subatomic Era
Era Era Time Events
Planck Epoch Planck Epoch 10-43 four fundamental forces electromagnetism, weak nuclear force, strong nuclear force and gravitation all have the same strength
Grand Unification Epoch Grand Unification Epoch 10-43 10-36 s gravitation begins to separate
Electro-weak Epoch Inflationary Epoch 10-36 10-32 s The rapid expansion of space by factor of 1026 (size) or by 1078 (vol).
Electro-weak Epoch 10-3610-12 s strong force from the electroweak force
Quark Epoch Quark Epoch 10-1210-6 s The fundamental interactions of gravitation, electromagnetism, the strong interaction and the weak interaction have now taken their present forms
Hadron Epoch Hadron Epoch 10-6 1 s protons and neutrons formed
Lepton Epoch Lepton Epoch 1 s 10 s leptons left
Photon Epoch 10 s380,000 yr photons dominated the energy of the universe
Photon Epoch BB Nucleosynthesis 320 min result in 75(mass) of H-1, about 25 He-4, about 0.01 of deuterium, trace amounts of Li and Be and no other heavy elements.
Photon Epoch 70,000 yr the densities of non-relativistic matter (atomic nuclei) and relativistic radiation (photons) are equal
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Planck Epoch

• Named after Max Planck, in cosmology the Planck
  epoch is the earliest period of time in the
  history of the universe, from zero to 10-43
  seconds (one Planck time), during which all four
  fundamental forces were unified and elementary
  particles did not exist.
• Standard quantum mechanics says that it is
  meaningless to speak of durations shorter than
  Planck time or distances shorter than one Planck
  length, the distance light travels in one Planck
  timeabout 1.616 10-35 meters. Accordingly, the
  history of the universe should be measured, not
  from zero, but from one Planck time. Likewise,
  the volume of the universe would start at one
  Planck length in diameter rather than at zero,
  and, thus, there was never a singularity of
  infinite density. As of 2006, there is no
  generally accepted theory that unifies quantum
  mechanics and relativistic gravity. A future
  complete theory may or may not allow more to be
  said about the Planck epoch.

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The mass fraction in various isotopes vs time
from Burles, Nollett Turner (1999).
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Epoch of Nucleosynthesis
Helium Atom, from wikipedia
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About 380,000 years after the Big Bang the
temperature of the universe fell to the point
where nuclei could combine with electrons to
create neutral atoms. As a result, photons no
longer interacted frequently with matter, the
universe became transparent and the cosmic
microwave background radiation was created.
BBN will result in mass abundances of about 75
of H-1, about 25 He-4, about 0.01 of deuterium,
trace (on the order of 10-10) amounts of Li and
Be and no other heavy elements.
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Timeline of Universe
Image from WMAP press release, 2006
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Notable Scientists
Edwin Hubble (1889 1953) -detection of
novae in the Andromeda galaxy, redshift and
expanding universe. Almost Nobel Prize
Winner(shortly after his death, Nobel committee
recognized astrophysics is eligible for Nobel
prize ,1953)
George Gamow(1904-1968) Ralph Alpher (1921
2007) -Big Bang theory
Alan Guth(1947-)-Inflationary theory
Fred Hoyle(1915 2001) - theory of stellar
nucleosynthesis, rejection of Big Bang, rejection
of chemical evolution
Pyotr Kapitsa(1894-1984), Arno Penzias(1933-),
Robert Wilson(1936-) - discovery of cosmic
microwave background radiation, Nobel Prize in
Physics (1978)