Dark Matter in the Universe – How will it End?
Will the Universe expand forever, or will it eventually re-collapse due to the relentless pull of its own gravity? Professor Michael Turner, of the University of Chicago, will address this fundamental question at an international conference of over 100 astrophysicists when they meet in Canberra today. Said Turner: ‘Cosmologists have been trying to answer this question for more than 60 years. We are coming close to an answer, and it is much more interesting than just ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ In addressing this seemingly simple question cosmologists have: • studied the nuclear reactions that took place seconds after the Big Bang; • measured the slowing of the Universe’s expansion; • weighed giant clusters of galaxies; and • measured the small variations in the intensity of the cosmic microwave background radiation.’ While we do not yet have a complete answer that meets the high standards of scientific certainty, we are reasonably sure that: • Most of the matter in the Universe is not in the form o
