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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 511))

Abstract

The cosmological parameters that I will discuss are the Hubble parameter H 0 ≡100h km s-1 Mpc-1, the age of the universe t 0, the average density Ω0, and the cosmological constant Λ. The most important recent development is the new analyses based on Hipparchos data indicating that the oldest Globular Clusters in our Galaxy have ages of ∼ 11 Gyr. The evidence would favor small Ω0≈ 0.3 if (1) the Hubble parameter actually has the high value h≈ 0.7 still favored by some observers, and the age of the universe t 0 ≥ 13 Gy, despite the new Hipparchos results; (2) the baryonic/total mass ratio in clusters of galaxies is actually ∼ 20%, about twice as large as expected for standard BBN in an Ω=1 universe with the Tytler et al. value D/H ≈ 2 × 10-5; or (3) the comoving number density of clusters does not decrease much with increasing redshift. The evidence would favor ∼ ~ 1 if (1) the POTENT analysis of galaxy peculiar velocity data is right, in particular regarding outflows from voids or the inability to obtain the present-epoch non-Gaussian density distribution from Gaussian initial fluctuations in a low-a universe; or (2) the preliminary results from high-redshift Type Ia supernovae, which suggest that Ω0 ∼ 1 and ΩΛ is small, are confirmed. The latest small-angle CMB anisotropy data favor cosmologies in which Ω0 + ΩΛ ≈ 1. but statistics on gravitational lensing of quasars provide an independent upper limit on Λ,

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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Primack, J.R. (1998). Status of Cosmological Parameters. In: Sánchez, N., Zichichi, A. (eds) Current Topics in Astrofundamental Physics: Primordial Cosmology. NATO ASI Series, vol 511. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5046-0_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5046-0_15

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6119-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5046-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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