The "Standard" Model of Cosmology ... and Open Questions

<strong>Seminar of the School of Physical Sciences -------------------------------------------------</strong> Title: <strong>The "Standard" Model of Cosmology ... and Open Questions</strong> Speaker: <strong>Bharat Ratra</strong> (Kansas State University, Manhattan) Date:<strong> March 16, 2016</strong> <strong>Abstract:</strong> Experiments and observations over the last two decades 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.