Article,

What have we learned from observational cosmology ?

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Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, (Apr 16, 2013)
DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsb.2013.02.002

Abstract

We review the observational foundations of the \$Łambda\$CDM model, considered by most cosmologists as the standard model of cosmology. The Cosmological Principle, a key assumption of the model is shown to be verified with increasing accuracy. The fact that the Universe seems to have expanded from and hot and dense past is supported by many independent probes (galaxy redshifts, Cosmic Microwave Background, Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis and reionization). The explosion of detailed observations in the last few decades has allowed for precise measurements of the cosmological parameters within Friedman-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker cosmologies leading to the \$Łambda\$CDM model: an apparently flat Universe, dominated by a cosmological constant, whose matter component is dominantly dark. We describe and discuss the various observational probes that led to this conclusion and conclude that the \$Łambda\$CDM model, although leaving a number of open questions concerning the deep nature of the constituents of the Universe, provides the best theoretical framework to explain the observations.

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