Measuring cosmological parameters
Up to now we met four cosmological parameters: H0, q0,
,
(q0 is a combination of the last two,
so it is not independent). There is another important parameter:
the density of baryons.
Now we know that in addition to ordinary (called baryonic) matter,
universe contains the so called ``dark matter''. Thus, we need to know
the relative contributions of those two kinds of matter.
The density of baryons can be also expressed as an ``Omega'' parameter:
Of course,
and
only if there is no dark matter whatsoever.
The dark matter contribution is what makes it up to the total :
Measuring
One of the best ways to measure is to use
the Big Bang nucleosynthesis.
During this process, in addition to helium (4He),
a few other isotopes are produced:
deuterium, helum-3, and lithium-7 (denoted as D, 3He, and 7Li).
The amount of those isotopes produced depends on the density of baryons,
i.e. on . The abundances of those isotopes can be measured quite
accurately, and the latest result yields:
(for H0=70, since it depends on H0 as well).
This is a rather strong confirmation of the Big Bang theory, since only
one parameter - the baryon density - is used to explain four different
abundances.
Another way of measuring is offered by the CMB anisotropies.
Measuring
To measure , we need the measure the amount of matter in the
universe, i.e. ``weight'' the whole universe.
We can measure all the matter in galaxies using the Kepler's
third law: we know how large the galaxies are, and how fast they rotate.
But if most of the matter in the universe is dark, how would one measure
it?
Perhaps, one of the best ways to do so is to look at clusters of galaxies.
Galaxies move along their orbits inside a cluster the same way the stars
move in a galaxy. Thus, using the Kepler's third law we can measure
masses of galaxy clusters. Then astronomers make an assumption
that clusters of galaxies are representative pieces of the universe, i.e. they on average contain the same ratio of the dark matter to visible matter
(stars in galaxies) as the universe in the whole.
Then one can make
a proportion:
We can measure
,
, and
. Thus, using the proportion we can measure
the ``mass'' of the universe. (In practice, astronomers measure the
density, i.e. the amount of mass in a given finite volume).
This measurement is not very accurate, and gives
But it is almost certain that this assumption is incorrect, and is somewhat larger than that.
And again, the spectrum of the CMB has a clue about hidden in it.
Cluster gas fraction
There are many reasons to think that clusters contain more galaxies per
dark matter than present on average in the universe.
But at the same time
there are no reasons whatsoever to assume that there same is true for the
intracluater gas.
Clusters of galaxies contain intracluater gas, and the mass of this gas
is usually 10 times larger than the mass of galaxies (i.e. clusters
should indeed be called ``clusters of gas'' rather than ``clusters
of galaxies''). Within modern physics there is no known way to
enhance or diminish the fraction of this gas inside a cluster. Thus,
we can safely assume that
We can measure the amount of gas in clusters because they emit X-rays.
The stumbling block: we do not know the mass of gas in the universe!
(i.e. ).
Thus, we can proceed in three different ways:
The preferred way out of this incocnsistency is to think that is somewhat larger than what is measured in clusters, perhaps 0.4 rather
than 0.2.
Measuring q0
Up to very recently, it was practically impossible to measure q0 directly
due to the lack of good standard candles. Only in 1995 there was a new set
of good standard candles found: supernovae Ia. As with Cepheids, they are not
standard candles per se, i.e. not all supernovae Ia are of the same
luminosity.
- With Cepheids, their luminosity can be determined from their period.
- With SN Ia, their luminosity can be determined from how fast they
dim after the explosion.
Supernovae Ia are much much brighter than Cepheids, so with them one can
measure distance up to almost the horizon.
The most recent results from this observational program gives
This result has immediate consequence:
We live in a universe with the cosmological constant!
Knowing a value of
q0 and that the universe if flat,
we can find and
:
These numbers are not very accurate, so the combination
is also consistent with existing observations.