Cosmology

Here. “Nobel physics prize honours accelerating Universe find” (BBC News, 4 October 2011) While Scientific American wrestles with unsolved mysteries, some are sure they have the key to the answers now At the time, the competing teams expected to find that the more distant supernovae were slowing down, relative to those nearer – a decline of the expansion of the Universe that began with the Big Bang. Instead, both teams found the same thing: distant supernovas were in fact speeding up, suggesting that the Universe is destined for an ever-increasing expansion. What the trio found has sparked a new epoch in cosmology, seeking to understand what is driving the expansion.

From “Scientists Release Most Accurate Simulation of the Universe to Date” (ScienceDaily, Sep. 30, 2011), we learn, The Bolshoi supercomputer simulation, the most accurate and detailed large cosmological simulation run to date, gives physicists and astronomers a powerful new tool for understanding such cosmic mysteries as galaxy formation, dark matter, and dark energy. In one sense, you might think the initial results are a little boring, because they basically show that our standard cosmological model works,” said Joel Primack, distinguished professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “What’s exciting is that we now have this highly accurate simulation that will provide the basis for lots of important new studies