Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2022
Volume 67, Number 6
Saturday–Tuesday, April 9–12, 2022; New York
Session D02: The Century of Physical CosmologyInvited Live Streamed Undergrad Friendly
|
Hide Abstracts |
Sponsoring Units: FHPP Chair: Paul Halpern, University of the Sciences Room: Broadway South |
Saturday, April 9, 2022 1:30PM - 2:06PM |
D02.00001: The Social Construction of Physical Cosmology Invited Speaker: P J E Peebles Sociologists point out that when an interesting idea in science appears the odds are that someone else had already proposed it. This reenforces the thought that scientific discoveries are close to inevitable; if one person doesn't hit on the idea others likely will, as has happened so often. I will mention examples in the development of our present standard cosmology, and thoughts about future multiples that may be to come. |
Saturday, April 9, 2022 2:06PM - 2:42PM |
D02.00002: Theoretical Cosmology in the 1960s Invited Speaker: Dennis Lehmkuhl I gratefully acknowledge funding by the Volkswagen Foundation and the German Research Foundation (DFG). |
Saturday, April 9, 2022 2:42PM - 3:18PM |
D02.00003: Observational Cosmology in the 1960s Invited Speaker: Christopher Smeenk This talk considers the historical development of observational cosmology up to the 1960s, pursuing two main themes. Early work in relativistic cosmology characterized the effect of spacetime geometry on the appearance of distant objects -- e.g., cosmological red-shift as a function of distance. Results of this form are unsatisfying because they hold only for an exact spacetime geometry, and it is clear that the actual universe departs from any of these exact models. McCrea and McVittie initiated a program of deriving observational relations that hold for a broad class of solutions, not only in the highly symmetric FLRW models, culminating in the work of Kristian and Sachs. This first line of work makes it possible to describe cosmological observations in a spacetime geometry approximating that of the real universe. The second theme regards the scope of cosmological observations. Physical cosmology succeeded in establishing a standard model by shifting away from a reliance on galaxies as tracers of large-scale spacetime geometry. Lemaître had considered the effect of cosmological evolution on a wide variety of physical processes, but his results were limited and speculative. In light of other developments in physics, in the 60s it was possible to use these alternative routes -- including primordial element abundances and the background radiation -- as strong evidence in favor of the big bang model. |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700