I'm going to teach this class with the title
From the Big Bang to Dark Energy. What this
class is really about is these questions,
where we came from and where we are going.
You have probably heard of the fact that the
universe started with The Big Bang. The universe
was incredibly tiny, actually much smaller
than the size of an atom. Then it started
to expand tremendously, and it has become as
big as what we see today. Then, how did the
galaxies form? How were stars formed? Where
did atoms come from? These things are all
related to the question of how the universe
began so we would like to understand the connection
between the universe we see today and how
it began. At the same time, where we are going
depends on some mysterious force called dark
energy of the universe that is speeding up
the expansion of the universe. Depending on
the nature of dark energy, which we don't
know yet, the universe might end up with a
big rip, or it may go on forever heading to
a big freeze. We don't know which is the right
fate of the universe yet. So I'd like to introduce
you to these subjects by using really basic
calculus and high school physics level knowledge
and that would cover this material starting
from the very beginning of the universe and
hopefully some possibilities on how the universe
might end.
