Big Bang and Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

These flashcards cover important vocabulary and definitions related to the Big Bang theory, the early universe, cosmic radiation, and fundamental concepts in cosmology.

Big Bang

The event that marks the beginning of the Universe, characterized by extreme heat and density.

Primordial Nucleosynthesis

The process that occurred during the Big Bang leading to the formation of light elements such as hydrogen and helium.

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB)

The relic radiation from the Big Bang, now redshifted to a microwave frequency and observed uniformly across the universe.

Hubble’s Law

The observation that the farther away galaxies are, the faster they appear to be moving away from us, indicating that the universe is expanding.

George Gamow

A physicist who contributed to the Big Bang theory and the concept of primordial nucleosynthesis.

Density of the Universe

The amount of matter in a region of the Universe, which influences its expansion and structure.

General Theory of Relativity

Einstein's theory that describes gravity as the curvature of spacetime caused by mass, fundamental to understanding cosmology.

Deuterium

An isotope of hydrogen consisting of one proton and one neutron, formed during the early minutes of the Universe.

Stable Atoms Formation

The process that occurred when temperature dropped sufficiently for electrons to combine with protons, resulting in neutral atoms.

Blackbody Radiation

The idealized spectrum of radiation emitted by an object in thermal equilibrium, relevant to the CMB.

Redshift

The phenomenon where light from an object is shifted to longer wavelengths, indicative of the expansion of the Universe.

Quasar

A massive and distant celestial object that emits exceptionally large amounts of energy, often used to measure early Universe conditions.

Flat Universe

A model of the universe in which parallel lines remain parallel and the geometry is Euclidean, indicated by the distribution of galaxies.

Closed Universe

A model of the universe where space curves back on itself; it has a finite volume with no boundaries.

Open Universe

A model of the universe that continues to expand forever and has no boundaries, highlighting its infinite nature.

Nucleosynthesis

The process of formation of new atomic nuclei from pre-existing nucleons, significant in the early stages of the Universe.