We have learned a lot recently about how the Universe evolved in 13.7 billion years since the Big Bang. More than 80% of matter in the Universe is mysterious Dark Matter, which made stars and galaxies to form. The newly discovered Higgs-boson became frozen into the Universe a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang and brought order to the Universe. Yet we still do not know how ordinary matter (atoms) survived against total annihilation by Anti-Matter. The expansion of the Universe started acceleration about 7 billion years ago and the Universe is being ripped apart. The culprit is Dark Energy, a mysterious energy multiplying in vacuum. I will present evidence behind these startling discoveries and discuss what we may learn in the near future.
Offered By
From the Big Bang to Dark Energy
The University of TokyoAbout this Course
Offered by
The University of Tokyo
The University of Tokyo was established in 1877 as the first national university in Japan. As a leading research university, UTokyo offers courses in essentially all academic disciplines at both undergraduate and graduate levels and conducts research across the full spectrum of academic activity.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
From Daily Life to the Big Bang
Understanding the Universe in which we live and how to probe it can begin with simple daily life experiences such as night and day and the four seasons. Starting from these observations, we will take a journey from our local Earth at the present time all the way to the edge of the universe and back to its birth, learning the techniques and findings in modern physics that provide us this understanding.
Birth of Elements and Higgs Boson
We are made of chemical elements. So one of the fundamental questions “where do we come from?” leads to another question: “how were elements born?”. This is related to the Higgs Boson, an important particle in answering this question which remained elusive until its discovery was recently announced on July 4, 2012. In this module, we will learn recent research outcomes on these topics.
Dark Matter and Anti-Matter
In this module, we will learn about dark matter and anti-matter -- some of the more mysterious sides of the Universe. We know dark matter played an important role in the formation of stars and galaxies, but much of properties are still unknown to us. In another strange mystery, we will see how the beginning of the universe started with equal amounts of matter and anti-matter, yet somehow only matter (which we are composed of!) survived.
Inflation and Dark Energy
At the very beginning, the Universe exponentially expanded during a period known as the cosmic inflation. Recent studies suggested that the Universe has entered into another stage of expansion, considered to be caused by 'mysterious' dark energy. In this module, we will learn about inflation, dark energy, and the possible fates of our Universe.
Reviews
- 5 stars86.06%
- 4 stars12.32%
- 3 stars1.19%
- 1 star0.40%
TOP REVIEWS FROM FROM THE BIG BANG TO DARK ENERGY
Really well explained. Prof. Murayama really know what he is talking about. Also, the fact that he is and was involved in so many important experiments tells you about the quality of this course
Maybe the best course I have taken so far. Very interesting subject great professor and perfect distribution of content. Would like to see another course by professor Murayama in the future.
Prof Hitoshi Murayama is a great lecturer. Very clear and vivid introduction to astrophysics and related cutting-edge experiments. Thanks for giving this course! Looking forward to hear more.
I'm very happy to finished this course and this was a really awesome journey into the knowledge of the universe, thank you so much to professor Murayama for explained it in a such easy way.
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