© 2023

D.3 Cosmology

The expanding universe

In this section, we will look in detail at one of the pillars of the Hot Big Bang theory,
namely the expansion of the universe, the bang in Hot Big Bang. The expansion of the
universe is firmly associated with the American astrophysicist Edwin Hubble; see
Figure 1. Hubble did his groundbreaking cosmological work
at the Mount Wilson Observatory
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Wilson_Observatory), in California, USA.

Figure 1. Edwin Hubble and the telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory;

image is a still from Hubblecast 89
(https://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/hubblecast89a/) which talks
about the life of Edwin Hubble. Credit: ESA/Hubble
(http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/ann1527a/).

Red shift
How does one measure the expansion of the universe? We usually use the analogy of the
Doppler shift, the change in the perceived frequency of a wave if there is a relative
velocity between the source and the observer of the wave; you may have
encountered this earlier in the textbook when studying Doppler shift (/study/app/12c-
ibdp-physics-hl/sid-49-cid-255088/book/changing-sound-id-3323). This is a well-
known phenomenon in everyday life: when you hear a fire engine approach, at the
moment that it passes you, you hear a drop in pitch, or frequency. The perceived
frequency is higher than the emitted one if the source and observer are moving towards
each other; it is lower when they are moving away from each other. When talking about
the Doppler shift in light, the increase in frequency is called blue shift, because blue
light has the highest frequency of the visible spectrum, and the decrease in frequency is
called a red shift. Thus, from our vantage point of the Earth looking out at distant light
sources, if we observe a systematic shift in spectral lines of a particular element to either
the blue or red end of the spectrum we can conclude that the source moves towards or
away from us, respectively. When studying spectral lines (/study/app/12c-ibdp-physics-
hl/sid-49-cid-255088/book/atomic-energy-levels-id-2247) in atomic physics, we found
that each element has a unique spectral line configuration determined by their atomic
energy level structure: an atomic 'fingerprint'. If we see a shift in the spectra of distant
light sources, how do we conclude that these spectra are not simply spectra from
different elements rather than shifted spectra from the same element? The first
indication is if the shift is systematic, i.e. the overall relative configuration is retained
except at different absolute wavelengths. Secondly, we may invoke Occam's razor.

Nature of Science
In science, Occam's razor is a principle which guides scientists in their development
of theoretical models. In this function, Occam's razor states: Among different
models, the one with the fewest assumptions should be favoured. In other words,
it is a principle in favour of simplicity which is justified in a scientific method that
relies on the criterion of falsifiability to distinguish between competing theories. In
such a method, the fewer the assumptions the easier a theory is testable.

Thus, by comparing distinctive spectral lines from stellar objects with those from a
stationary gas in our laboratory, we may infer whether the light source is moving
relative to us and, if so, whether it is moving towards us, indicated by a blue shift, or
away from us, evidenced through a red shift. We show this with absorption lines
in Figure 2.

Figure 2. The rest, or laboratory, frame absorption spectrum is shown in

the middle, while a red-shifted spectrum from a receding galaxy is shown
at the top in which all spectral features are systematically shifted to the
red end, lower frequency, of the spectrum. Similarly, a blue-shifted
spectrum from an approaching galaxy is shown on the bottom with the
spectral features systematically shifted to the blue end, higher
frequency, of the spectrum.
When Edwin Hubble systematically studied the light emitted from distant galaxies, he
found that their spectral features were almost all red-shifted. In other words, galaxies
are moving away from us. There are exceptions: the local Andromeda Galaxy
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_Galaxy), for example, is moving towards our
own Milky Way (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way) galaxy; we discuss
this later. We refer to the red shift that Hubble observed as the cosmological red
shift, indicating that its cause, which we will explore soon, is cosmological in
origin. The greater the relative velocity between source and observer, the greater the
shift in wavelength, and hence, the larger the red shift. We define a variable for red shift,
z, that is a measure of the shift in wavelength,

Δλ λo
z= = − 1,
λe λe

where Δλ = λ o − λ e, with λ o and λ e the observed and emitted (laboratory) wavelengths

of a spectral feature, respectively. Note that z, as a ratio of wavelengths, has no units.
We may rearrange this to give the ratio of observed to emitted wavelength as

λo
= 1 + z.
λe

It is obvious that the size of the red shift is dependent on the relative velocity between
the source (the distant galaxy) and the observer (us), which we may call recessional
velocity, v. For recessional velocities much less than the speed of light, v << c, the
approximate relativistic Doppler shift for light is given by

Δλ v
≈ ,
λe c

so that we can conclude that, in the low-velocity limit,

Δλ v
z= ≈ .
λe c

Thus, if there is no shift in wavelength, λ o = λ e, or Δλ = 0, there is no red shift, z = 0,

and, consequently, there is no recessional velocity of the distant galaxy.

Important
The IB Physics Guide and Data booklet uses a slightly different, and possibly
confusing, notation and defines the red shift as

Δλ v
z= ≈ ,
λ0 c

where the subscript is a 0 to indicate that it is the wavelength if the source is at a red
shift of z = 0, i.e., it is the wavelength of emission that one would measure in the
laboratory. In this book, we will use e to indicate the time of emission, o to
indicate the time of observation, and 0 to indicate today.
Example 1
One of the visible hydrogen spectral lines, the aqua H-β line, has a laboratory
wavelength of 486.1nm. In a spectrum of a distant galaxy, this line is observed to have a
wavelength of 535nm. What is the red shift and recessional velocity of this galaxy?

Example 2
A galaxy has a known red shift of 0.45. Calcium has a strong line in the laboratory at a
wavelength of 487.8nm. At what wavelength do you expect to observe this
particular line in the spectrum of this galaxy?

The expanding universe

The interpretation of the red shift data with the analogy of the Doppler shift leads to the
conclusion that distant galaxies are moving away from us. It is, however, incorrect to
think of the cosmological red shift as arising from relative motion of the emitter, the
distant galaxy, and the Earth-bound observer through the universe. It is not the
motion in space that brings about the red shift, but it is the motion of space that causes
light to be red shifted. General relativity has shown that light must propagate on the
canvas given by the geometry of space-time. This canvas is not necessarily flat and is
not static either. The conclusion to be drawn from the observed cosmological red shift is
that the space-time of the universe expands. The light that travels towards us from a
distant galaxy does so on a space-time canvas that is continuously stretching, this
stretching causes its wavelength to stretch, and as a result the light is red-shifted.

The speed of light, while high, is finite. Thus, we expect light from galaxies which are
further away to be shifted more than from those galaxies which are closer. Because it
is the space between galaxies that is expanding, photons from more distant sources will
travel longer and experience the expansion of space longer, leading to a greater red
shift.

When Edwin Hubble published his initial galaxy data in 1929, his results showed that
the further away the emitting galaxy, the more its light was red shifted, the "faster" it
was moving away from us. In Figure 3A Hubble's original data is shown with his
proposed fit of a straight line to the data, and in Figure 3B a modern version of the
result for far greater distances is shown. Notice the boldness of Hubble's original
interpretation of the data. We will return to this in a later section, The big picture
(/study/app/12c-ibdp-physics-hl/sid-49-cid-255088/book/the-big-picture-id-7339) in
Further cosmology.
 Figure 3A.
Hubble's 1929
data showing a
linear relationship
between
recessional
velocity and
distance; recall
that parsec, pc, is
a distance unit
studied in Stellar
parallax
(/study/app/12c-
ibdp-physics-
hl/sid-49-cid-
255088/book/stel
lar-parallax-id-
9521), and so Mpc
is a million
parsecs.

Figure 3B.
Modern data
extending to
much further
distances than
Hubble's original
data, also showing
that Hubble's bold
step to draw a
straight line as the
best fit to his data
in 1929 was
indeed a correct
one.

Given the linear relationship of recessional velocity of distance galaxies, v, with their
distance, d, we obtain Hubble's law

v = H 0d ,

where H 0 is Hubble's constant and is given by the slope of the velocity vs. distance
1
graph, and so has units of but its value is customarily given in units of
time
km s − 1 Mpc − 1, where Mpc stands for megaparsecs, or, one million parsecs, see Stellar
parallax (/study/app/12c-ibdp-physics-hl/sid-49-cid-255088/book/stellar-parallax-id-
9521). The 0 on Hubble's constant is an indication that it is not, in fact, a constant in the
same way as the speed of light is a constant. In all modern cosmological models, the
Hubble constant takes on different values at different epochs in the evolution of the
universe; it is a function of time. The convention is to use H 0 for its present value.
Without going into the debate and details concerning the value of H 0
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble%27s_law), we may take as an acceptable value
the 2015 value of ESA's space observatory Planck mission
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_(spacecraft)): H 0 = 67.74 ± 0.46km s − 1 Mpc − 1.

We may then use the relation between the red shift, z, and the recessional velocity, v,
from above to obtain a formula between red shift and distance of a galaxy, d, in terms
of the Hubble constant, H 0, and speed of light, c,

v
z≈ and v = H 0d
c
H 0d
such that z≈
c
cz
and d≈ .
H0

However, since the relationship between red shift and velocity used is an approximation
only, this formula is good only up to a red shift of 0.2. Regardless, we note that the
galaxies at a greater distance are 'at a greater' red shift, and so redshift is also used as a
distance measure. Since we can measure the red shift of a galaxy through its spectral
line shift, this red shift will give us the distance to a distant galaxy.

Examiner Tip
The units of the Hubble constant are usually given in km s − 1 Mpc − 1 so that if you
use the formula

cz
d=
H0

then the units of d are Mpc only if c is converted to units of km s − 1, i.e.,

c = 3.00 × 10 5km s − 1.

Similarly, using Hubble's law to calculate recessional velocity, with H 0 in its usual
units and distances in megaparsecs, the velocity will be in km s − 1, not in SI units of
m s − 1.

We will return in The creation of space and time (/study/app/12c-ibdp-physics-hl/sid-

49-cid-255088/book/the-creation-of-space-and-time-id-11706) to look in more detail at
Hubble's law and its consequences for our understanding of the universe. However, we
already make the following link:

the further an object, the greater its red shift, z ∝ d, and vice
versa,
the greater its redshift, the more the wavelength is stretched,
λ o = λ e(1 + z),
and so the wavelength of a photon travelling through an expanding universe will
experience a red shift depending on the distance of the galaxy relative to us; we are, of
course, at zero red shift.

You can see this in the following applet. A photon emitted at a red shift z = 0 will have
its observed wavelength, λ o, equal to the emitted wavelength, λ e. The
observed wavelength – the distance between, say, two successive troughs – is stretched
as its source is put at a higher red shift, hence, is at a greater distance. This stretching is
as a consequence of the stretching of spacetime. We note that the amplitude of the wave
is not in a spatial dimension so that the amplitude undergoes a different evolution, to
which we will return later in Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (/study/app/12c-
ibdp-physics-hl/sid-49-cid-255088/book/the-cosmic-microwave-background-radiation-
id-11787).

Before we continue with our exploration of the evolving universe, however, some
examples to finish this section.

Example 3
What is the recessional velocity of a galaxy at a distance of 6.5 × 10 8ly? Use
H 0 = 68km s − 1 Mpc − 1.

Example 4
Consider the red-shifted hydrogen line of Example 1 above. The laboratory wavelength
of this H-β line is 486.1nm while its observed wavelength is shifted to 535nm. Find the
distance to the galaxy from which this spectral line was emitted. Use
H 0 = 68km s − 1 Mpc − 1.