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That other pesky 95% Dark Energy and Dark Matter Prof. Lawrence Wiencke Department of Physics Engineering Colorado School of Mines Nov 9 2011
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The Dark Side 95% of the Universe Is Dark!
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Energy budget of Universe Stars and galaxies are only ~0.5% Neutrinos are <1% Rest of ordinary matter (electrons and protons) are ~5% Dark Matter ~25% Dark Energy ~70% Anti-Matter 0%
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THE HIGGS!?# No Dark Matter No Dark Energy
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M81Spitzer Space Telescope
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105 100 50 Expected if the mass of the galaxy = the mass we can see Observed Some sort of invisible Mass must extend out ~10 times further than the stars! Rotation speed Distance from the center Vera Rubin 1980s
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Full Court Press!! Produce at an accelerator Detect them in our halo Detect annihilation products
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Dark Matter annihilating in our halo should produce positrons, neutrinos and gamma rays
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Evidence for Dark Matter from Lensing Einstein: Gravity bends light Light travels along straight lines unless it passes a massive object. Light coming from behind a massive object such as a star, a galaxy, a cluster of galaxies or a clump of dark matter will be bent the same way a glass lens works. The more massive the object, the more gravity it has and the more the light is bent
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giant arcs are galaxies behind the cluster, gravitationally lensed Zoom in on a galaxy cluster – Gravity from the invisible matter is bending light and we can see the distorted images that result
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Michael S Turner Discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background, 1964
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Michael S Turner The Universe circa 380,000 yrs The Universe circa 380,000 yrs WMAP ±0.001% Fluctuations
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fraction of a second later Hot Primordial Soup 380,000 years later Radiation Last Scattered 13.78 thousand-million years later Today DARK MATTER from the Primordial Soup DARK MATTER from the Primordial Soup
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Most of the matter is dark and it’s not even “normal” stuff! Tip of the Iceberg
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STRING THEORY - 11 dimensions and more ….. Go to 11???
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19 What is Dark Energy ? “ ‘Most embarrassing observation in physics’ – that’s the only quick thing I can say about dark energy that’s also true.” Edward Witten
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Discovery! – 1998 Hi z Supernova Team Supernova Cosmology Project Brian P. Schmidt Saul Perlmutter Adam G. Riess Nobel Prize in Physics 2011
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Inquiring into Dark Energy 22 NSTA - Baltimore 2006 A dying star becomes a white dwarf. 1. Create a White Dwarf
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Inquiring into Dark Energy 23 NSTA - Baltimore 2006 The white dwarf strips gas from its stellar companion…. 2. Dump more mass onto it
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Inquiring into Dark Energy 24 NSTA - Baltimore 2006 ….and uses it to become a hydrogen bomb. Bang! 3. Until it explodes
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Inquiring into Dark Energy 25 NSTA - Baltimore 2006 The explosion is as bright as an entire galaxy of stars…. …..and can be seen in galaxies across the universe. 4. Observe it in a distant galaxy
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The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is a telescope Fermilab helped build and operate. It has a 2.4m mirror and no Dome Located in New Mexico First started collecting images in 2000 120 MegaPixel digital camera SDSS has measured ~ 1 million galaxies and over 500 type 1a Supernova and also found that the expansion of the universe is accelerating
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SDSS-II Supernova Survey ~500 Well studied SNe Ia, suitable for framing
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Our Universe’s Expansion is Accelerating! time expansion open closed accelerating Now
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“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. Those to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, are as good as dead: their eyes are closed.” Albert Einstein
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95% of the Universe Is Dark! What can we learn about it? Will!!
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