The First Three Minutes

Weinberg, Steven; Nagel, D. J.; Bleach, R. D.

doi:10.1119/1.11936

Cited by 128 publications

(55 citation statements)

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“…This empirical fact presents a profound challenge to the standard model where the homogeneity was the basic explanation of the Hubble law, and "the connection between homogeneity and Hubble's law was the first success of the expanding world model" [197]. This also reminds of the natural reaction "In fact, we would not expect any neat relation of proportionality between velocity and distance [for such close galaxies] [203]. However, contrary to the expectations, modern data show a good linear Hubble law even for nearby galaxies.…”

Section: The Paradoxmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale-invariance of galaxy clustering

1998

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Some years ago we proposed a new approach to the analysis of galaxy and cluster correlations based on the concepts and methods of modern statistical Physics. This led to the surprising result that galaxy correlations are fractal and not homogeneous up to the limits of the available catalogs. The usual statistical methods, which are based on the assumption of homogeneity, are therefore inconsistent for all the length scales probed so far, and a new, more general, conceptual framework is necessary to identifythe real physical properties of these structures. In the last few years the 3-d catalogs have been significatively improved and we have extended our methods to the analysis of number counts and angular catalogs. This has led to a complete analysis of all the available data that we present in this review. The result is that galaxy structures are highly irregular and self-similar: all the available data are consistent with each other and show fractal correlations (with dimension $D \simeq 2$) up to the deepest scales probed so far ($1000 \hmp$) and even more as indicated from the new interpretation of the number counts. The evidence for scale-invariance of galaxy clustering is very strong up to $150 \hmp$ due to the statistical robustness of the data but becomes progressively weaker (statistically) at larger distances due to the limited data. In These facts lead to fascinating conceptual implications about our knowledge of the universe and to a new scenario for the theoretical challenge in this field.Comment: Latex file 165 pages, 106 postscript figures. This paper is also available at http://www.phys.uniroma1.it/DOCS/PIL/pil.html To appear in Physics Report (Dec. 1997

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Section: The Paradoxmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scale-invariance of galaxy clustering

1998

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“…In fact, a scientific worldview has often been taken to imply that the emergence of humanity was an accident in a universe that is completely indifferent to human concerns, goals, and values (e.g. see Weinberg, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Meaning of Life in a Developing Universe

Stewart

2009

SSRN Journal

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Abstract:The evolution of life on Earth has produced an organism that is beginning to model and understand its own evolution and the possible future evolution of life in the universe. These models and associated evidence show that evolution on Earth has a trajectory. The scale over which living processes are organized cooperatively has increased progressively, as has its evolvability. Recent theoretical advances raise the possibility that this trajectory is itself part of a wider developmental process. According to these theories, the developmental process has been shaped by a larger evolutionary process that involves the reproduction of universes. This evolutionary process has tuned the key parameters of the universe to increase the likelihood that life will emerge and develop to produce outcomes that are successful in the larger process (e.g. a key outcome may be to produce life and intelligence that intentionally reproduces the universe and tunes the parameters of 'offspring' universes). Theory suggests that when life emerges on a planet, it moves along this trajectory of its own accord. However, at a particular point evolution will continue to advance only if organisms emerge that decide to advance the evolutionary process intentionally. The organisms must be prepared to make this commitment even though the ultimate nature and destination of the process is uncertain, and may forever remain unknown. Organisms that complete this transition to intentional evolution will drive the further development of life and intelligence in the universe. Humanity's increasing understanding of the evolution of life in the universe is rapidly bringing it to the threshold of this major evolutionary transition.

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“…The issue of the high value of 1/η (≃ 10 9 ), compared to that found in a typical star (η ≃ 1), was given a prominent position both in [2] and also in Weinberg's, then new, more popular book "The First Three Minutes" [3]. Particular emphasis was given at the difficulty of producing such a large value for 1/η through dissipative processes given that the homogeneity and isotropy of the Universe that allows only for the effects bulk viscosity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cosmological Inflation: A Personal Perspective

Kazanas

2008

Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings

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Summary. We present a brief review of Cosmological Inflation from the personal perspective of the author who almost 30 years ago proposed a way of resolving the problem of Cosmological Horizon by employing certain notions and developments from the field of High Energy Physics. Along with a brief introduction of the Horizon and Flatness problems of standard cosmology, this lecture concentrates on personal reminiscing of the notions and ideas that prevailed and influenced the author's thinking at the time. The lecture then touches upon some more recent developments related to the subject and concludes with some personal views concerning the direction that the cosmology field has taken in the past couple of decades and certain speculations some notions that may indicate future directions of research.

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The First Three Minutes

Cited by 128 publications

References 0 publications

Scale-invariance of galaxy clustering

Scale-invariance of galaxy clustering

The Meaning of Life in a Developing Universe

Cosmological Inflation: A Personal Perspective

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