[ExI] Found! The first atoms in the Universe

[Kelly Anderson]

On Thu, Nov 17, 2011 at 4:56 AM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:
> Quote:
> The brightest, most luminous objects visible in the farthest reaches
> of the distant Universe are quasars, a good number of which are
> visible right at the very end stages of reionization -- when light
> becomes transparent to matter -- in the Universe. In a serendipitous
> stroke of good luck, after 58 years of quasar spectroscopy, the above
> team of Fumagalli, O'Meara and Prochaska found two clouds of pristine,
> unpolluted gas from the Big Bang in the spectra of their quasars!
>
> <http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2011/11/found_the_first_atoms_in_the_u.php>
>
> So this is not only the least polluted, most pristine sample of atoms
> we've ever found, it's also the newest, best test we've ever conducted
> as to whether the abundances of these light elements -- from the
> strength of their spectral absorption lines -- matches up with the
> predictions of the Big Bang!
>
> And that's how we found the very first atoms in the Universe, and how
> they -- yet again -- proved another prediction of the Big Bang
> correct!

Thanks for sharing this Bill. I have to say folks, that the above
article is one of the most understandable physics papers on this very
complex stuff that I've ever encountered. While I can't claim that I
fully understand everything in it, it is clear enough to follow the
reasoning and be entirely believable. I won't be able to repeat any of
his arguments tomorrow, but right now I'm amazed at this work. Anyone
who wants an example of how to make this sort of physics approachable
by mere mortals couldn't do much better than looking at this page.
Great stuff!

-Kelly