Cosmic Acceleration

1. Cosmic Acceleration Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt headed two separate teams on a mission to discover the behavior of the universe. In 2011, these two men along with Adam Reiss were awarded the Nobel Physics Prize for observing cosmic acceleration. From previous experiments and observation, it was already known that the universe was expanding. However, the rate of expansion was unknown. In order to have a better understanding of this expansion rate, the scientists needed to study the universe beyond the visible stars. These two competing teams used supernovae to accomplish this task. By observing the redshift, brightness, distance, and any changes over time, the Nobel Laureates discovered that the brightness of the supernovae was weaker than expected. This meant that the universe was expanding at an accelerating rate, which meant that the universe would continue to spread until it met its end in ice. This is exactly the opposite of what the two teams expected to discover. Cosmic acceleration diagram • Implications: • Provides more proof that dark energy exists. • Shows that Einstein’s cosmological constant is actually valid since it accounts for the acceleration of expansion. Pictures of same supernovae three weeks apart used to produce light curve Sources: "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 - Popular Information". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2013. Web. 2 Dec 2013. <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2011/popular.html> .