Dark Energy and Cosmic Sound - Exploring the Universe Through Acoustic Waves

Explore the fascinating world of cosmic sound waves and their role in measuring the Universe's composition and history in this Harvard University lecture. Delve into the detection of fossil imprints from sound waves using galaxy distribution maps from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Gain insights into the shape of the Universe and the evolution of dark energy as Professor Daniel Eisenstein presents an overview of the cosmological significance of sound waves and the observational program. Learn about dark matter, the expanding Universe, and the surprising discovery of dark energy. Examine the microwave background, acoustic oscillations, and the concept of a standard ruler in cosmic measurements. Discover how the Sloan Digital Sky Survey has contributed to mapping the Universe in three dimensions and detecting the acoustic peak. Investigate the cosmic distance scale, high-redshift mapping, and the detection of cosmic deceleration. Analyze the cosmological implications of these findings and explore the future of cosmic structure research in this comprehensive exploration of dark energy and cosmic sound.

Intro
Outline
What is the Universe Made Of?
Dark Matter!
The Expanding Universe
Weighing the Universe
Surprise! Dark Energy!
Distances to Acceleration
Distance vs Redshift.
Cosmic Composition
What Causes the Acceleration?
Turning up the Contrast
The Microwave Background at Contrast of 105
Anisotropies of the CMB
Acoustic Oscillations in the CMB
Sound Waves in the Early Universe
A Standard Ruler
A Statistical Signal
Mapping the Universe
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey
SDSS Collaboration
The SDSS Imaging Legacy
Mapping in Three Dimensions!
Plugging a Plate
Galaxy Correlation Functions
Detection of the Acoustic Peak
The Acoustic Peak in 2014
The Cosmic Distance Scale
The Lyman a Forest
Mapping at High Redshift!
Detection of Cosmic Deceleration from z = 2.4 to z = 0.6
BAO Confirms Dark Energy
Cosmological Implications: Measuring Dark Energy
Cosmological Leverage
Cosmological Constraints
The End of the Beginning
A New Decade of Cosmic Structure
Conclusions