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Science 24 May 2002:
Vol. 296. no. 5572, pp. 1427 - 1433
DOI: 10.1126/science.1072184
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Review

Measuring Spacetime: From the Big Bang to Black Holes

Max Tegmark

Space is not a boring static stage on which events unfold over time, but a dynamic entity with curvature, fluctuations, and a rich life of its own. Spectacular measurements of the cosmic microwave background, gravitational lensing, type Ia supernovae, large-scale structure, spectra of the Lyman alpha  forest, stellar dynamics, and x-ray binaries are probing the properties of spacetime over 22 orders of magnitude in scale. Current measurements are consistent with an infinite flat everlasting universe containing about 30% cold dark matter, 65% dark energy, and at least two distinct populations of black holes.

Department of Physics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. E-mail: max{at}physics.upenn.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)