Exploring the Cosmos - Degree Exam 2010 - Particles, Forces & the Big Bang

1. The Large Hadron Collider has been constructed with the hope of discovering which particle?

Higgs boson

neutrino

photon

Z boson

2. An epicycle is:

A smaller circular orbit around the path of a larger circular orbit

Any type of periodic orbit

An elliptical orbit

A circular orbit around the Earth, but with the Earth not exactly at the center

3. Which of the following provides supporting evidence for the big bang theory?

The presence of a cosmic microwave background

The observed abundance of elements in the universe

All of the above

The red-shift of distant galaxies

4. Which of the following is NOT implied by Einstein's theory of relativity?

Clocks moving relative to us run more slowly

Nothing can accelerate slower than some minimum acceleration

Moving objects are shortened in the direction of motion

Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light

5. Neutrinos interact via

The electromagnetic force

The strong nuclear force

None of the above

The weak nuclear force

6. The currently most viable dark matter candidate is

Interstellar dust

neutrinos

Brown dwarf stars

weakly interacting massive particles

7. What idea was introduced to solve the flatness and smoothness problems in cosmology?

Relativity

Inflation

Gravitational lensing

The existence of antimatter

8.
Which combination of the following three statements is true if the universe is open?

I. Gravity is not strong enough to stop the expansion in a finite time.
II. The density of the universe is greater than the critical density.
III. The universe is infinite.

II & III

I, II, & III

I & III

I & II

9. Who among the following believed that the Earth and planets orbited the sun?

Ptolemy

Eudoxus

Tycho Brahe

Kepler

10. Most of the visible mass in the universe is believed to come fro

quarks and gluons

the Higgs boson

photons

gravity