Cosmic Knowledge Pop-Quiz: Deepen Your Understanding of the Universe!

1. Pop-quiz #21 Which of the following statements isTRUE? • Black holes can emit particles and thereby lose mass — this is called Hawking radiation • John Wheeler coined the theorem “A black hole has no hair” because he was bald and thought of himself as a black hole • The concept of gravity trapping light is a direct consequence of the Special Theory of Relativity • Most stars have supermassive black holes at their centers • The so-called “dark energy” that is driving the acceleration of the Universe and the so-called “dark matter” that makes its presence felt through gravity are present in equal amounts in the energy budget of the Universe — i.e. they contribute equally to the overall  of the Universe

2. Pop-quiz #22 Which of the following statements isTRUE? • Inflation is the astronomical term used to describe the transformation our bellies undergo at holiday time • Gravity was the last of the four fundamental forces of Nature to “freeze” out • The Universe was radiation dominated at early times, but has been matter dominated ever since it’s 300,000th birthday • Most of the elements in the periodic table were synthesized in the early Universe and this is known as Big Bang Nucleosynthesis • The detection of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation proves that the Steady State Cosmology hypothesis is correct

3. Pop-quiz #23 Which of the following statements about the EPOCH OF CONFINEMENT is TRUE? • At this instant, quarks became bound in sets of three to produce protons and neutrons, while matter and radiation continued to interact strongly • The Universe was matter dominated at this epoch • Protons and electrons formed stable hydrogen atoms for the first time at this epoch, and the matter in the Universe became mostly transparent to radiation • This epoch was immediately followed by Inflation • Ducks and aadvarks got together to produce quarks

4. Pop-quiz #24 Which of the following statements about INFLATION isFALSE? • The Universe expands faster than the speed of light during Inflation • The rapid expansion during Inflation is driven by a repulsive anti-gravity force whose mathematical properties are similar to that of Einstein’s Cosmological Constant Λ • Inflation solves the CMBR horizon paradox/problem • Inflation violates the principles of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity • Inflation naturally gives rise to the tiny quantum fluctuations in the early Universe that are the “seeds” from which galaxies and galaxy clusters “grow” under the influence of gravity