29.1 The age of the universe

Learning objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Describe how we estimate the age of the universe
• Explain how changes in the rate of expansion over time affect estimates of the age of the universe
• Describe the evidence that dark energy exists and that the rate of expansion is currently accelerating
• Describe some independent evidence for the age of the universe that is consistent with the age estimate based on the rate of expansion

To explore the history of the universe, we will follow the same path that astronomers followed historically—beginning with studies of the nearby universe and then probing ever-more-distant objects and looking further back in time.

The realization that the universe changes with time came in the 1920s and 1930s when measurements of the redshifts of a large sample of galaxies became available. With hindsight, it is surprising that scientists were so shocked to discover that the universe is expanding. In fact, our theories of gravity demand that the universe must be either expanding or contracting. To show what we mean, let’s begin with a universe of finite size—say a giant ball of a thousand galaxies. All these galaxies attract each other because of their gravity. If they were initially stationary, they would inevitably begin to move closer together and eventually collide. They could avoid this collapse only if for some reason they happened to be moving away from each other at high speeds. In just the same way, only if a rocket is launched at high enough speed can it avoid falling back to Earth.

The problem of what happens in an infinite universe is harder to solve, but Einstein (and others) used his theory of general relativity (which we described in Black Holes and Curved Spacetime ) to show that even infinite universes cannot be static. Since astronomers at that time did not yet know the universe was expanding (and Einstein himself was philosophically unwilling to accept a universe in motion), he changed his equations by introducing an arbitrary new term (we might call it a fudge factor) called the cosmological constant    . This constant represented a hypothetical force of repulsion that could balance gravitational attraction on the largest scales and permit galaxies to remain at fixed distances from one another. That way, the universe could remain still.

Einstein and hubble.

About a decade later, Hubble, and his coworkers reported that the universe is expanding, so that no mysterious balancing force is needed. (We discussed this in the chapter on Galaxies .) Einstein is reported to have said that the introduction of the cosmological constant was “the biggest blunder of my life.” As we shall see later in this chapter, however, relatively recent observations indicate that the expansion is accelerating . Observations are now being carried out to determine whether this acceleration is consistent with a cosmological constant. In a way, it may turn out that Einstein was right after all.