ASTR 420 · Lecture 04

Lecture 04: Cosmic Time and Horizons

Cosmology

A redshift is not itself an age; converting it to time requires a cosmological expansion history.

Objectives and route

Compute lookback time in a flat matter-plus-dark-energy model and explain horizons.
Define and distinguish lookback time, conformal time, and causal limits.
Derive or audit one quantitative relation with units and assumptions.
Connect the calculation to an observational test and a limitation.

Terms for This Lecture

Lookback time

Definition: The elapsed cosmic time between emission at redshift z and observation today.

Why it matters here: In Cosmic Time and Horizons, Lookback time is needed to reason about lookback time, conformal time, and causal limits rather than merely label the phenomenon.

Relationship: It is interpreted alongside Conformal time and the lecture relation below; identify which quantities are observed, calibrated, or model-derived.

Limitation or common confusion: The result depends on H0 and the density parameters; the integral is not replaceable by 1/H0 at z=1.

\(t_L(z)=integral_0^z dz' / [(1+z')H(z') ]\)

Motivating evidence

A redshift is not itself an age; converting it to time requires a cosmological expansion history.

Cosmological claims are indirect: an observable is calibrated, placed in a model, and compared against alternatives. Keep those layers separate throughout the lecture.

lookback time, conformal time, and causal limits. The axes, labels, and geometry carry the physical inference rather than serving as decoration.

Physical framework

Start from the governing relation and define its domain:

\(t_L(z)=integral_0^z dz' / [(1+z')H(z') ]\)

State the coordinate choice, units, boundary conditions, and approximation before substituting numbers. The same symbol can mean a different quantity in Newtonian, special-relativistic, and expanding-space contexts.

Read the visual

Use the figure introduced on the evidence slide as an argument: identify the measured axis, the inferred axis, the comparison model, and the parameter that controls the conclusion.

The paired lab asks you to reproduce the visual from a supplied data extract and test one modeling choice.

Worked calculation

Numerical Simpson integration gives t_L(z=1) = 7.9497 Gyr for the shared flat Lambda-CDM parameters.

The result depends on H0 and the density parameters; the integral is not replaceable by 1/H0 at z=1.

Estimate the scale first, then check dimensions and comparative direction. The displayed value is generated from shared ASTR420 constants and data.

Evidence versus inference

Raw data are not the same as calibrated observables.
A fitted parameter is conditional on the likelihood, prior, and selection function.
Independent probes can agree because the model is useful, or disagree because an assumption is hidden.

Boundary condition

Limit of the model: The result depends on H0 and the density parameters; the integral is not replaceable by 1/H0 at z=1.

Ask what happens if the dominant assumption fails. In cosmology, approximation honesty matters because distances, times, and abundances accumulate model dependence.

Active reasoning

Prompt: Numerically integrate the lookback time to z=1 using Simpson's rule.

Predict the direction before calculating. Then name one observation that could discriminate between two explanations.

Connection to the seven-unit arc

Earlier tools: ASTR310 radiation, dynamics, and statistical mechanics.
Paired data activity: use the corresponding CSV and reproduce the calculation with a perturbation test.
Next step: combine this probe with an independent epoch or distance measure.

Takeaways

Compute lookback time in a flat matter-plus-dark-energy model and explain horizons.
A cosmological parameter is meaningful only with its model and uncertainty context.
State whether a number is live-verified, a published value awaiting spot-check, or an instructor-provided model value.
Carry the limitation forward into the lab and problem set.

Reading and provenance

OpenStax Astronomy 2e, Chapter 29, sections 29.2 and 29.3; embedded Figures 29.7-29.10.

OpenStax Astronomy 2e Chapter 29 embedded figure numbers were checked against the extracted text; the source index has chapter-label offsets near the Chapter 29 boundary, so the adopted PDF remains the final exercise-number authority.

Additional sources and dataset status are recorded in reference-log.md. Standard published values not re-fetched this session are level 2 and require human spot-checking.