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Nuclear Constraints on the Age of the Universe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2016

David N. Schramm
David N. Schramm*
Affiliation:
The University of Chicago

Extract

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In this paper a review will be made of how one can use nuclear physics to put rather stringent limits on the age of the universe and thus the cosmic distance scale. As the other papers in this session have demonstrated there is some disagreement on the distance scale and thus the limits on the age of the universe (if the cosmological constant Λ = 0.) However, the disagreement is only over the last factor of 2, the basic timescale seems to really be remarkably well agreed upon. The universe is billions of years old - not thousands, not quintillions but billions of years. That our universe has a finite age is philosophically intriguing. That we can estimate that age to a fair degree of accuracy is truly impressive.

No single measurement of the time since the Big Bang gives a specific, unambiguous age. Fortunately, we have at our disposal several methods that together fix the age with surprising precision.

Type
Joint Discussions
Information
Highlights of Astronomy , Volume 6 , 1983 , pp. 241 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1983

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