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Amazingly the
interplay between the Big Bang
coupled with inflation
and particle physics can explain a great
deal about our present
universe including the cosmic
microwave background, the absence of magnetic monopoles, and
the formation of atoms,
galaxies, and stars. Astrophysics including supernovae rely on nuclear
and atomic physics as well as general relativity. The
First Three Minutes by Steve Weinberg is the classic description of
much
of this story, albeit without inflation. Nearly all of this picture
with the exception of the Hubble
expansion developed in the
last sixty years. Much of the information for this picture has
come from research in space.
There are things that this picture does not yet explain. It explains
what happened after the Bang but not the Bang itself. Cosmology is also
linked to the other pillars of
science.
Questions for the next forty years
Even more precise measurements of the three degree
radiation are needed along the lines of WMAP .
Dark
energy and dark matter must be investigated.
Gravity waves using detectors like LIGO and LISA
will get underway in
earnest.
Will we be able to understand the fabric of space? Does it have more
dimensions?
Will particle physics be a key?
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