Instructors:
Dr. Manoj Kaplinghat, Professor, Physics & Astronomy, UCI
Prerequisites: N/A
Course Description:
This course will introduce students to the expanding universe, the fundamental particles that make up the periodic table of elements and the forces between them. At the end of this course, students will gain an understanding of how astronomers infer the expansion rate of the universe and decipher that only about 5% of the universe is made up of the known elements. The course will provide the tools to enable students to appreciate the symmetries inherent in the expanding universe, and the known fundamental particles and forces. Building on this understanding the course will discuss some of the big questions that astronomers and particle physicists are working on.