Progress in Physics of the Cosmos

Abstract

Study of the Cosmos, at best, is considered a semi-scientific discipline, primarily because the la-boratory for carrying out measurements and tests of theories (the Cosmos) has been largely inac-cessible for centuries. The cosmic vista into the yonder, however, continued to fascinate humankind due to its inherent beauty and sheer curiosity. The invention of the optical telescope more than five centuries back, however, led to the opening of observational cosmology as a scientific discipline with firm experimental basis. However, the investigations based on visible light posed obvious limitations for the range of such observational cosmology. The advent of the radio telescope in the first half of the 20th century marked a fundamental new step in the progress of this branch of science. There has been no looking back in the march of knowledge in the discipline since then. A whole new vista was laid bare as a result of this development, leading to the discovery of altogether new celestial objects, such as quasars and pulsars and still newer galaxies. The parallel progress of the physics of fundamental constituents of the material world and their interactions led to an interesting merger of these two branches of physical sciences, yielding absolutely astounding knowledge of the nature and evolution of the Universe. New concepts of dark energy and dark matter thought to constitute the dominant share of the Universe were brought to light as a result of these new observations and theoretical ideas. This brief article aims to provide an overview of these exciting developments in the field of cosmology and the associated physics.