Flashcards: Physical cosmology

The cosmos (UK /ˈkɒzmɒs/, US /ˈkɒzmoʊs/) is the universe regarded as a complex and orderly system; the opposite of chaos.

In physical cosmology, baryogenesis is the generic term for the hypothetical physical processes that produced an asymmetry (imbalance) between baryons and antibaryons produced in the very early universe.

Absolute space and time is a concept in physics and philosophy about the properties of the universe.

(This article is about theories of the origin of the universe. For the Björk song, see Cosmogony (song).)("Cosmogenesis" redirects here. For the Obscura album, see Cosmogenesis (album).) Cosmogony (or cosmogeny) is any model concerning the origin of either the cosmos or universe.

The ultimate fate of the universe is a topic in physical cosmology.

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the thermal radiation left over from the time of recombination in Big Bang cosmology.

Cosmology (from the Greek κόσμος, kosmos "world" and -λογία, -logia "study of"), is the study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe.

In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is an unknown form of energy which is hypothesized to permeate all of space, tending to accelerate the expansion of the universe.

A Grand Unified Theory (GUT) is a model in particle physics in which at high energy, the three gauge interactions of the Standard Model which define the electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions or forces, are merged into one single force.

The heat death of the universe is a possible ultimate fate of the universe in which the universe has diminished to a state of no thermodynamic free energy and therefore can no longer sustain processes that increase entropy (including computation and life).

In physics, redshift happens when light or other electromagnetic radiation from an object is increased in wavelength, or shifted to the red end of the spectrum.

The Big Crunch is one possible scenario for the ultimate fate of the universe, in which the metric expansion of space eventually reverses and the universe recollapses, ultimately ending as a black hole singularity or causing a reformation of the universe starting with another big bang.

Timaeus (/taɪˈmiːəs/; Greek: Τίμαιος, Timaios, pronounced [tǐmaɪ̯os]) is one of Plato's dialogues, mostly in the form of a long monologue given by the title character Timaeus of Locri, written c.

Cosmography is the science that maps the general features of the cosmos or universe, describing both heaven and Earth (but without encroaching on geography or astronomy).

The anthropic principle (from Greek anthropos, meaning "human") is the philosophical consideration that observations of the Universe must be compatible with the conscious and sapient life that observes it.

In cosmology, the cosmological constant (usually denoted by the Greek capital letter lambda: Λ) is the value of the energy density of the vacuum of space.

The multiverse (or meta-universe) is the hypothetical set of finite and infinite possible universes, including the universe in which we live.

In astrophysics and physical cosmology, Olbers' paradox, named after the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers (1758–1840) and also called the "dark night sky paradox", is the argument that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the assumption of an infinite and eternal static universe.

The accelerating expansion of the universe is the observation that the universe appears to be expanding at an increasing rate.

Observations suggest that the expansion of the universe will continue forever.

The inflaton is a hypothetical scalar fieldthat is supposed to be responsible for cosmic inflationin the very early universe.

The shape of the universe is the and of the Universe, in terms of both curvature and topology (though, strictly speaking, the concept goes beyond both).

Dark flow is an astrophysical term describing a possible non-random component of the peculiar velocity of galaxy clusters.

Tired light is a class of hypothetical redshift mechanisms that was proposed as an alternative explanation for the redshift-distance relationship.

In physics and cosmology, the mathematical universe hypothesis (MUH), also known as the Ultimate Ensemble, is a speculative "theory of everything" (TOE) proposed by the cosmologist Max Tegmark.

In cosmology, baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) are regular, periodic fluctuations in the density of the visible baryonic matter (normal matter) of the universe.

Physical cosmology is the study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the Universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its origin, structure, evolution, and ultimate fate.

Brane cosmology refers to several theories in particle physics and cosmology related to string theory, superstring theory and M-theory.

The chronology of the universe describes the history and future of the universe according to Big Bang cosmology, the prevailing scientific model of how the universe developed over time from the Planck epoch, using the cosmological time parameter of comoving coordinates.

In physical cosmology, structure formation refers to the formation of galaxies, galaxy clusters and larger structures from small early density fluctuations.

In astronomy and cosmology, dark fluid is an alternative theory to both dark matter and dark energy and attempts to explain both phenomena in a single framework.

In physical cosmology, cosmological perturbation theory is the theory by which the evolution of structure is understood in the big bang model.

The concept of "curvature of space" is fundamental to cosmology.

In astronomical spectroscopy, the Gunn–Peterson trough is a feature of the spectra of quasars due to the presence of neutral hydrogen in the Intergalactic Medium (IGM).

In astronomy and cosmology, light dark matter refers to dark matter weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) candidates with masses less than 1 GeV.

In astrophysics and cosmology scalar field dark matter is a classical, minimally coupled, real scalar field postulated to account for the inferred dark matter.

A non-standard cosmology is any physical cosmological model of the universe that has been, or still is, proposed as an alternative to the Big Bang model of standard physical cosmology.

Ex nihilo is a Latin phrase meaning "out of nothing".