Physics Today: Eight
new papers interpreting new data from the
WMAP (Wilkinson
Microwave Anisotropy Probe) mission have been released. WMAP is
designed to elucidate the history and composition of the
universe by creating an high resolution map of temperature
fluctuations and polarization in the cosmic microwave
background radiation.
The new papers are based on five-years worth of
observations, two years more than the 2003 set of papers (see
Physics
Today April 2003, page 21). The new data have yielded
improved determinations of the
Hubble
constant (70.1 ± 1.3 km/s per Mpc) and the cosmic
density of
baryonic
(ordinary) matter (4.6 ± 0.2% pf the total cosmic
budget of matter and energy) that has implications for
cosmological models of the early universe. WMAP has also
refined the
age
of the Universe to 13.73 ± 0.12 billion years. The new
WMAP data rules out the existence of
very
massive neutrino species.
Related Links
Physics
Today April 2003, page 21
WMAP group
The
Reference Frame
The new papers are based on five-years worth of
observations, two years more than the 2003 set of papers (see
Physics
Today April 2003, page 21). The new data have yielded
improved determinations of the
Hubble
constant (70.1 ± 1.3 km/s per Mpc) and the cosmic
density of
baryonic
(ordinary) matter (4.6 ± 0.2% pf the total cosmic
budget of matter and energy) that has implications for
cosmological models of the early universe. WMAP has also
refined the
age
of the Universe to 13.73 ± 0.12 billion years. The new
WMAP data rules out the existence of
very
massive neutrino species.
Related Links
Physics
Today April 2003, page 21
WMAP group
The
Reference Frame
