This was an informal meeting at the CPR Learning Space where members were invited to bring along ideas and contributions; presentations were informal.
Self-Similarity Cosmology (Fractal Cosmology) - Robin Waddling In Robert Oldershaw's approach to cosmology he has deduced scaling factors between the various scales of range and size within the universe. So Hydrogen, the most common atom in the universe equates to an M-type star, the most abundant star in the visible universe. Using this approach Oldershaw has in the past found many parallels or commonalities that exist between stars and planetary atoms. Robin reminded those present that in a previous talk he had talked about the mysterious low abundance of any atom with 5 a.m.u., eg. 5He. When one scales up this atom to stellar mass proportions there is a similar missing mass in the range of masses of white dwarf stars. A more recent publication by Oldershaw concerns the nature of gamma ray blasters. Oldershaw has considered processes such as electron-proton annihilation and other nuclear decay processes. When the range of typical energies released in these types of nuclear process are scaled up by Oldershaw's factors, they fall within the range of observed energies released by gamma ray blasters. It is very curious that an essentially simple proposition of self-similarity between hierarchies of scale can continue to reveal such parallels.
Cosmology - Bill Barlow Bill Barlow reminded the audience that the observation of the distribution of radial velocities of stars in galaxies was the first real indication of the existence of dark matter. He also reported that it had now been accepted that initial star formation in the early universe, before galaxies had formed, could only have been possible if dark matter had been present. This led to a great deal of discussion, particularly concerning the presence (or absence) of dark matter in our solar system.
