"The Five Ages of the Universe The Five Ages of the Universe is a popular science book written by Professor Fred Adams and Professor Gregory P. Laughlin about the future of an expanding universe first published in 1999. The book ""The Five Ages of the Universe"" discusses the history, present state, and probable future of the universe, according to cosmologists' current understanding. The book divides the timeline of the universe into five eras: the primordial Era, the Stelliferous Era, the Degenerate Era, the Black Hole Era and the Dark Era. In addition to explaining current cosmological theory, the authors speculate"
"Structure formation In physical cosmology, structure formation is the formation of galaxies, galaxy clusters and larger structures from small early density fluctuations. The universe, as is now known from observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation, began in a hot, dense, nearly uniform state approximately 13.8 billion years ago. However, looking in the sky today, we see structures on all scales, from stars and planets to galaxies and, on still larger scales, galaxy clusters and sheet-like structures of galaxies separated by enormous voids containing few galaxies. Structure formation attempts to model how these structures formed by gravitational instability of small"
"(i.e., quasars, galaxies, clusters and superclusters) is one of the largest efforts in cosmology. Cosmologists study a model of hierarchical structure formation in which structures form from the bottom up, with smaller objects forming first, while the largest objects, such as superclusters, are still assembling. One way to study structure in the universe is to survey the visible galaxies, in order to construct a three-dimensional picture of the galaxies in the universe and measure the matter power spectrum. This is the approach of the ""Sloan Digital Sky Survey"" and the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. Another tool for understanding structure formation"
"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. Physical cosmology is the scientific study of the universe's origin, its large-scale structures and dynamics, and its ultimate fate, as well as the scientific laws that govern these areas. The term ""cosmology"" was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ""Glossographia"", and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher Christian Wolff, in ""Cosmologia Generalis"". Religious or mythological cosmology is a body of beliefs based on mythological, religious, and esoteric literature"
"of galaxies, then into larger-scale superclusters. Various fields of physics are crucial to studying the universe. Interdisciplinary studies involve the fields of quantum mechanics, particle physics, plasma physics, condensed matter physics, statistical mechanics, optics, and nuclear physics. Fundamental to the structure of the Universe is the existence of dark matter and dark energy. These are now thought to be its dominant components, forming 96% of the mass of the Universe. For this reason, much effort is expended in trying to understand the physics of these components. Astronomy and astrophysics have developed significant interdisciplinary links with other major scientific fields. Archaeoastronomy"
"Observational cosmology Observational cosmology is the study of the structure, the evolution and the origin of the universe through observation, using instruments such as telescopes and cosmic ray detectors. The science of physical cosmology as it is practiced today had its subject material defined in the years following the Shapley-Curtis debate when it was determined that the universe had a larger scale than the Milky Way galaxy. This was precipitated by observations that established the size and the dynamics of the cosmos that could be explained by Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. In its infancy, cosmology was a speculative science"
"also study: Physical cosmology 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. Cosmology as a science originated with the Copernican principle, which implies that celestial bodies obey identical physical laws to those on Earth, and Newtonian mechanics, which first allowed us to understand those physical laws. Physical cosmology, as it is now understood, began with the development in 1915 of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, followed by major observational discoveries in the 1920s: first, Edwin Hubble discovered that the"
"Physical cosmology 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. Cosmology as a science originated with the Copernican principle, which implies that celestial bodies obey identical physical laws to those on Earth, and Newtonian mechanics, which first allowed us to understand those physical laws. Physical cosmology, as it is now understood, began with the development in 1915 of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, followed by major observational discoveries in the 1920s: first, Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe contains"
"reason the most fundamental science is generally understood to be ""physics"" – the name for which is still recognizable as meaning that it is the study of nature. Matter is commonly defined as the substance of which physical objects are composed. It constitutes the observable universe. The visible components of the universe are now believed to compose only 4.9 percent of the total mass. The remainder is believed to consist of 26.8 percent cold dark matter and 68.3 percent dark energy. The exact arrangement of these components is still unknown and is under intensive investigation by physicists. The behavior of"
"Shape of the universe The shape of the universe is the local and global geometry of the universe. The local features of the geometry of the universe are primarily described by its curvature, whereas the topology of the universe describes general global properties of its shape as of a continuous object. The shape of the universe is related to general relativity, which describes how spacetime is curved and bent by mass and energy. Cosmologists distinguish between the observable universe and the global universe. The observable universe consists of the part of the universe that can, in principle, be observed by"
"Fractal cosmology In physical cosmology, fractal cosmology is a set of minority cosmological theories which state that the distribution of matter in the Universe, or the structure of the universe itself, is a fractal across a wide range of scales (see also: multifractal system). More generally, it relates to the usage or appearance of fractals in the study of the universe and matter. A central issue in this field is the fractal dimension of the universe or of matter distribution within it, when measured at very large or very small scales. The first attempt to model the distribution of galaxies"
"universe was about two seconds old. If this neutrino radiation could be observed, it would be a window into very early stages of the universe. Unfortunately, these neutrinos would now be very cold, and so they are effectively impossible to observe directly. Observational cosmology Observational cosmology is the study of the structure, the evolution and the origin of the universe through observation, using instruments such as telescopes and cosmic ray detectors. The science of physical cosmology as it is practiced today had its subject material defined in the years following the Shapley-Curtis debate when it was determined that the universe"
"galaxies. Some of the most important are: These and other tools are used by different scientists at the IATE to perform original and reliable astronomical research. The large-scale structure of the Universe is the field of cosmology that studies the distribution of the matter in the Universe on the largest scales. This field has grown remarkably since the '80s, with the development of three-dimensional maps of galaxies in several bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, and with the observation of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The increasing flow of information generated by observations has allowed to obtain reliable characterization of the"
"field equations. Shape of the universe The shape of the universe is the local and global geometry of the universe. The local features of the geometry of the universe are primarily described by its curvature, whereas the topology of the universe describes general global properties of its shape as of a continuous object. The shape of the universe is related to general relativity, which describes how spacetime is curved and bent by mass and energy. Cosmologists distinguish between the observable universe and the global universe. The observable universe consists of the part of the universe that can, in principle, be"
"The Structure of Science The Structure of Science: Problems in the Logic of Scientific Explanation is a 1961 book about the philosophy of science by the philosopher Ernest Nagel. The book is considered a classic discussion of its subject, though its approach has been seen as outdated. Nagel discusses branches of science such as physics. ""The Structure of Science"" was first published by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1961. It was reprinted in 1979 by Hackett Publishing Company. ""The Structure of Science"" received a mixed review from the philosopher Raziel Abelson in ""Commentary"". The book was also reviewed by the"
"Structuralism (philosophy of science) Structuralism (also known as scientific structuralism or as the structuralistic theory-concept) is an active research program in the philosophy of science, which was first developed in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s by several analytic philosophers. Structuralism asserts that all aspects of reality are best understood in terms of empirical scientific constructs of entities and their relations, rather than in terms of concrete entities in themselves. For instance, the concept of matter should be interpreted not as an absolute property of nature in itself, but instead of how scientifically-grounded mathematical relations describe how the concept"
"(""logos"") ""word, study"" or literally ""logic"") could be considered the study of the Universe as a whole. Observations of the large-scale structure of the Universe, a branch known as physical cosmology, have provided a deep understanding of the formation and evolution of the cosmos. Fundamental to modern cosmology is the well-accepted theory of the big bang, wherein our Universe began at a single point in time, and thereafter expanded over the course of 13.8 billion years to its present condition. The concept of the big bang can be traced back to the discovery of the microwave background radiation in 1965."
"the Solar System and the interstellar medium. The study of the abundance of elements and isotope ratios in Solar System objects, such as meteorites, is also called cosmochemistry, while the study of interstellar atoms and molecules and their interaction with radiation is sometimes called molecular astrophysics. The formation, atomic and chemical composition, evolution and fate of molecular gas clouds is of special interest, because it is from these clouds that solar systems form. Studies in this field contribute to the understanding of the formation of the solar system, Earth's origin and geology, abiogenesis, and the origin of climate and oceans."
"Cosmos The cosmos (, ) is the universe. Using the word ""cosmos"" rather than the word ""universe"" implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity; the opposite of chaos. The cosmos, and our understanding of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in cosmology - a very broad discipline covering any scientific, religious, or philosophical contemplation of the cosmos and its nature, or reasons for existing. Religious and philosophical approaches may include in their concepts of the cosmos various spiritual entities or other matters deemed to exist outside our physical universe. The philosopher Pythagoras"
"as inhomogeneous. In inhomogeneous cosmology the large-scale structure of the universe is modelled by exact solutions of the Einstein field equations (i.e. non-perturbatively) unlike in the theory of cosmological perturbations which is the study of the Universe that takes structure formation (galaxies, galaxy clusters, the cosmic web) into account, but in a perturbative way. This usually includes the study of structure in the Universe by means of exact solutions of Einstein's field equations (i.e. ""metrics"") or by spatial or spacetime averaging methods. Such models are not homogeneous, but may allow effects which can be interpreted as dark energy, or can"
"to have begun with the Big Bang, followed almost instantaneously by cosmic inflation; an expansion of space from which the universe is thought to have emerged 13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago. Cosmogony studies the origin of the Universe, and cosmography maps the features of the Universe. In Diderot's Encyclopédie, cosmology is broken down into uranology (the science of the heavens), aerology (the science of the air), geology (the science of the continents), and hydrology (the science of waters). Metaphysical cosmology has also been described as the placing of humans in the universe in relationship to all other entities. This"
"old and were created together). Cosmology is the study of the origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the universe. Scientific cosmology uses the scientific method, which means forming theories or hypotheses which make specific predictions that can be tested with observations; depending on the outcome of the observations, the theories will be abandoned, revised or extended to accommodate the data. The scientific model of the origin and evolution of our universe is the Big Bang. The Bang was not like a conventional explosion, in which fragments of a bomb are thrown outwards, but rather was an explosion of space within"
"Jain cosmology Jain cosmology is the description of the shape and functioning of the Universe (""loka"") and its constituents (such as living beings, matter, space, time etc.) according to Jainism. Jain cosmology considers the universe, as an uncreated entity, existing since infinity, having neither beginning nor end. Jain texts describe the shape of the universe as similar to a man standing with legs apart and arm resting on his waist. This Universe, according to Jainism, is broad at the top, narrow at the middle and once again becomes broad at the bottom. According to Jains, the Universe is made up"
"Universe The Universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. While the spatial size of the entire Universe is still unknown, it is possible to measure the observable universe. The earliest scientific models of the Universe were developed by ancient Greek and Indian philosophers and were geocentric, placing Earth at the centre of the Universe. Over the centuries, more precise astronomical observations led Nicolaus Copernicus to develop the heliocentric model with the Sun at the centre of the Solar System. In developing the law of universal"
"to have been formed shortly after the Big Bang, are widespread throughout the universe, and are associated with new stars and exoplanets. Cosmochemistry Cosmochemistry (from Greek κόσμος ""kósmos"", ""universe"" and χημεία ""khemeía"") or chemical cosmology is the study of the chemical composition of matter in the universe and the processes that led to those compositions. This is done primarily through the study of the chemical composition of meteorites and other physical samples. Given that the asteroid parent bodies of meteorites were some of the first solid material to condense from the early solar nebula, cosmochemists are generally, but not exclusively,"
"is exemplified by Marcus Aurelius's observation that a man's place in that relationship: ""He who does not know what the world is does not know where he is, and he who does not know for what purpose the world exists, does not know who he is, nor what the world is."" Physical cosmology is the branch of physics and astrophysics that deals with the study of the physical origins and evolution of the Universe. It also includes the study of the nature of the Universe on a large scale. In its earliest form, it was what is now known as"
"QFT's infinite degrees of freedom lead to inequivalent representations in the general case. In general relativity, scholars often grant a ""basic structure"" status to the spacetime structure, sometimes via its metric. Structuralism (philosophy of science) Structuralism (also known as scientific structuralism or as the structuralistic theory-concept) is an active research program in the philosophy of science, which was first developed in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s by several analytic philosophers. Structuralism asserts that all aspects of reality are best understood in terms of empirical scientific constructs of entities and their relations, rather than in terms of concrete entities"
"(in particular 21-cm emission) have yielded much information on the content and character of the universe's structure. The organization of structure appears to follow as a hierarchical model with organization up to the scale of superclusters and filaments. Larger than this (at scales between 30 and 200 megaparsecs), there seems to be no continued structure, a phenomenon that has been referred to as the ""End of Greatness"". The organization of structure arguably begins at the stellar level, though most cosmologists rarely address astrophysics on that scale. Stars are organized into galaxies, which in turn form galaxy groups, galaxy clusters, superclusters,"
"both body and object: It is a ""body"" when referring to the frozen nucleus of ice and dust, and an ""object"" when describing the entire comet with its diffuse coma and tail. The universe can be viewed as having a hierarchical structure. At the largest scales, the fundamental component of assembly is the galaxy. Galaxies are organized into groups and clusters, often within larger superclusters, that are strung along great filaments between nearly empty voids, forming a web that spans the observable universe. THE UNIVERSE has a variety of morphologies, with irregular, elliptical and disk-like shapes, depending on their formation"
"Galaxy filament In physical cosmology, galaxy filaments (subtypes: supercluster complexes, galaxy walls, and galaxy sheets)<ref name=""astro-ph/9602090""> Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravtsov, Vladimir N. Lukash; ""The search and investigation of the Large Groups of Quasars"" ; ;</ref> are the largest known structures in the universe. They are massive, thread-like formations, with a typical length of 50 to 80 megaparsecs ""h"" (163 to 261 million light-years) that form the boundaries between large voids in the universe. Filaments consist of gravitationally bound galaxies. Parts wherein many galaxies are very close to one another (in cosmic terms) are called superclusters. In the standard"
"basic definition of Cosmology is the science of the origin and development of the universe. In modern astronomy the Big Bang theory is the dominant postulation. In theology, the cosmos is the created heavenly bodies (sun, moon, planets, and fixed stars). In Christian theology, the word is also used synonymously with ""aion"" to refer to ""worldly life"" or ""this world"" or ""this age"" as opposed to the afterlife or world to come. The 1870 book ""Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology"" noted The book ""The Works of Aristotle"" (1908, p. 80 ""Fragments"") mentioned Bertrand Russell (1947) noted Cosmos"
"this way, most religions and philosophical systems have a cosmology. When ""cosmology"" is used without a qualifier, it often signifies physical cosmology, unless the context makes clear that a different meaning is intended. Physical cosmology (often simply described as 'cosmology') is the scientific study of the universe, from the beginning of its physical existence. It includes speculative concepts such as a multiverse, when these are being discussed. In physical cosmology, the term ""cosmos"" is often used in a technical way, referring to a particular spacetime continuum within a (postulated) multiverse. Our particular cosmos, the observable universe, is generally capitalized as"
"Cosmological perturbation theory In physical cosmology, cosmological perturbation theory is the theory by which the ""evolution of structure"" is understood in the big bang model. It uses general relativity to compute the gravitational forces causing small perturbations to grow and eventually seed the formation of stars, quasars, galaxies and clusters. It only applies to situations in which the universe is predominantly homogeneous, such as during cosmic inflation and large parts of the big bang. The universe is believed to still be homogeneous enough that the theory is a good approximation on the largest scales, but on smaller scales more involved"