cosmology: Modern Cosmological Theories

Present models of the universe hold two fundamental premises: the cosmological principle and the dominant role of gravitation. Derived by Hubble, the cosmological principle holds that if a large enough sample of galaxies is considered, the universe looks the same from all positions and in all directions in space. The second point of agreement is that gravitation (or an antigravitation force, called dark energy) is the most important force in shaping the universe. According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, which is a geometric interpretation of gravitation, matter produces gravitational effects by actually distorting the space about it; the curvature of space is described by a form of non-Euclidean geometry. A number of cosmological theories satisfy both the cosmological principle and general relativity. The two main theories are the big-bang hypothesis and the steady-state hypothesis, with many variations on each basic approach.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Development of Modern Cosmology
• The Big-Bang Theory
• The Steady-State Theory
• Modern Cosmological Theories
• Bibliography

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