Drexel University Physics Colloquium

Weekly departmental colloquia feature well-known invited speakers on a wide range of topics. Colloquia are open to the public and are scheduled on Thursdays at 3:30 pm in Disque Hall room 919. Refreshments are served. ABSTRACT: Experiments and observations over the last decade have provided strong support for a "standard" model of cosmology that describes the evolution of the universe from an early epoch of inflation to the complex hierarchy of structure seen today. I review the basic physics, astronomy, and history of ideas on which this model is based. I describe the data which persuade cosmologists that (as yet undetected) dark energy and dark matter are by far the main components of the energy budget of the universe. I conclude with a list of open cosmological questions.