PROGRAM UNIVERSE and RECENT COSMOLOGICAL RESULTS

Recent improvements in astronomical observations lead to the conclusion that the Hubble constant lies between 60 and 80 Mpc km sec and the age of the universe between 11 and 14 Gigayears. Taken together with recent observations of distant type Ia supernovae and the cosmic background radiation, these limits allow a check of the consequences of predictions made a decade ago using program universe and the combinatorial hierarchy that the ratio of baryons to photons is 1/256 and of dark to baryonic matter is 12.7. We find that the restrictions on the matter content of the universe and the cosmological constant are within, and much tighter than, the limits established by conventional means. The situation is further improved if we invoke an estimate of the normalized cosmological constant made by E.D. Jones of ΩΛ ∼ 0.6. This opens a “window of opportunity” to get the predictions of the ANPA program in front of the relevant professional community before precise observations lead to a consensus. We urge ANPA members to join us in the assault on this breach in the walls of establishment thinking. Invited paper presented at the 20 annual international meeting of the ALTERNATIVE NATURAL PHILOSOPHY ASSOCIATION Wesley House, Cambridge, England, September 3–8, 1998 Work supported by Department of Energy contract DE–AC03–76SF00515. Conference Proceedings for ANPA 20 will be available from ANPA c/o Prof.C.W.Kilmister, Red Tiles Cottage, High Street, Bascombe, Lewes, BN8 5DH, United Kingdom.