Speaker
John Barrow
Description
We will begin with a brief introduction to the hot early
stages of the universe and
the background radiation and the differences between
decelerating and accelerating
universes. This leads to definition of ‘inflation’ which will
look like the appearance of
a temporary cosmological constant in the very early
universe. We will look at some
of its unusual consequences. We show how the concept
of ‘dark energy’ generalises
the simple idea of a cosmological constant and some of
the candidates for it. We then
summarise the different pieces of observational evidence
for dark energy, including
the simple anthropic bound, and the prospects for future
discoveries. Finally, we draw
together the big unexplained features of the dark
energy, look at some attempts to
resolve them, and conclude by seeing what dark energy
may mean for the far future of
the universe.
Primary author
John Barrow
