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Science 28 May 1999:
Vol. 284. no. 5419, pp. 1503 - 1507
DOI: 10.1126/science.284.5419.1503
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Research Articles

A Younger Age for the Universe

Charles H. Lineweaver

The age of the universe in the Big Bang model can be calculated from three parameters: Hubble's constant, h; the mass density of the universe, Omega m; and the cosmological constant, Omega Lambda . Recent observations of the cosmic microwave background and six other cosmological measurements reduce the uncertainty in these three parameters, yielding an age for the universe of 13.4 ± 1.6 billion years, which is a billion years younger than other recent age estimates. A different standard Big Bang model, which includes cold dark matter with a cosmological constant, provides a consistent and absolutely time-calibrated evolutionary sequence for the universe.

School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia. E-mail: charley{at}bat.phys.unsw.edu.au

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