Crisis in Cosmology : Observational Constraints on Omega and H_0

Abstract

Thanks to new technology of observations and fresh inputs from particle physics, cosmology has advanced on both observational and theoretical fronts. It is therefore opportune that we take stock of the cosmological situation today and examine the observational and theoretical constraints as they are now. The bottom line in this review is that despite the availability of the cosmological constant as an extra parameter for flat Friedmann models, the allowed parameter space for such models is very small. The observations that we consider here include the ages of globular clusters, measurement of Hubble's constant, abundance of rich clusters of galaxies, fraction of mass contributed by baryons in rich clusters and abundance of high redshift objects.