Exploring the Cosmos - Class Test 3 - Particles, Forces & the Big Bang
1. Your mass mainly arises from the interactions of
the Higgs boson.
gravity.
electromagnetism.
the strong force.
2. Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity is a
the origin of the Cosmic Microwave Background.
the quantum theory of space-time.
theory of gravity.
a description of photon interactions.
3. A unified theory of physics at the Planck scale is known as
a Theory of Everything.
Quintessence.
a Grand Unified Theory.
an Ultimate Theory.
4. The Cosmic Microwave Background is due to
photons emitted by Dark Matter.
the scattering of Cosmic Rays.
photons emitted from the Surface of Last Scattering.
electrons emitted from the Surface of Last Scattering.
5. The energy density of the universe is dominated by
the Higgs Boson.
atoms.
Dark Energy.
Dark Matter.
6. Which of the following is NOT evidence for Dark Matter?
Large Scale Structure Formation.
The Cosmic Microwave Background.
The baryon asymmetry of the universe.
The Lyman-alpha forest.
7. The Heat Death of the universe would be caused by
a metastable vacuum.
increasing entropy.
Dark Matter.
gravitational waves.
8. In the future the universe will
continue to expand at an ever increasing rate.
collapse to a Big Crunch.
evolve in a way that is impossible to predict without understanding Dark Energy.
continue to expand but at an ever decreasing rate.
9. CP Violation is the term used to describe
the irregularities in the Cosmic Microwave Background.
the decay of a Dark Matter particle.
an asymmetry between the laws of physics for matter and anti-matter.
the lack of magnetic monopoles in the universe.
10. The spatial geometry of a universe with critical density (Ω=1) is
cylindrical.
curled up like a ball.
shaped like a saddle.
flat.
11. Which of the following observations is evidence of the presence of dark matter?
Galaxies are spinning faster than expected.
Distant supernovae appear dimmer.
Some stars appear to be moving towards us.
Distant galaxies are moving faster away from us.
12. The red shift of light from very distant galaxies shows they are
accelerating away from us.
very far away.
formed a long time ago compared to nearby galaxies.
moving toward us.
13. The flatness problem is concerned with the following question:
Why is there a microwave background?
Why is the universe expanding?
Why is the density of the universe as close to the critical density as it is?
Why is there more matter than antimatter in the universe?
14. "Inflation" in cosmology refers to
the expansion of the Universe that began with the Big Bang and continues today.
the unending expansion of an open universe.
the process by which matter clusters gravitationally to form galaxies.
an era in the early Universe when the whole Universe suddenly expanded extremely rapidly.
15. The currently most viable dark matter candidate is
Brown dwarf stars
neutrinos
Interstellar dust
weakly interacting massive particles
16. Dark matter (excluding dark energy) is close to what percent of the total mass of the universe?
5%
100%
20%
75%
17. "The Big Freeze" is
what happens to a low mass star at the end of its life.
the cold of space in the interstellar void.
the ultimate fate of a universe that expands forever.
the Big Bang happening in reverse.
18. "Cosmic inflation" refers to
the increase in temperature as we approach, backward in time, the Big Bang.
the fact that the expansion of the universe seems to be accelerating.
the increase of the wavelength of light as we look deeper into space.
the very early universe undergoing a sudden and massive expansion.
19. The "smoothness problem" refers to the fact that
galaxies are moving away from us in all directions.
overall variation of the microwave background radiation is very small.
the rotation curves for spiral galaxies have a smooth tail far beyond the edge of the luminous region.
the geometry of the universe is very close to being flat.
20. The flatness problem is concerned with the following question:
Why is there a microwave background?
Why is there more matter than antimatter in the universe?
Why is the density of the universe as close to the critical density as it is?
Why is the universe expanding?
21. Large-scale structure is
spectral lines seen in the light from galaxies in the Local Group.
the clumping of galaxies into sheets spanning hundreds of millions of light-years.
the structure of the galactic halo.
the main piece of evidence that the universe is close to critical density.
22. The Observable Universe refers to the portion of the Universe
able to be resolved by the most powerful telescope.
that is made up of ordinary matter.
visible to an observer on the surface of the Earth.
from which light has had time to reach the Earth.
23. The 'structure problem' is best described as
the fact that the universe is expanding at the same rate in all directions
the lack of variation in the cosmic microwave background
the fact that matter is clumped into galaxies
the fact that the universe is surprisingly close to critical density
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