A group of scientists modified Einstein's formulas to eliminate inconsistencies
A team of researchers from the University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia has discovered a potential «glitch» in the gravity of the Universe, explaining its strange behavior on a cosmic scale.
For the last 100 years, physicists have relied on «the theory of general relativity» Albert Einstein to explain how gravity works in the Universe. The general theory of relativity, whose accuracy has been proven by countless tests and observations, suggests that gravity affects not only the three physical dimensions, but also the fourth dimension: time.
«This model of gravity has played an important role in everything from theorizing the Big Bang to imaging black holes», — said Robin Wen, lead author of the project and a recent graduate of the Department of Mathematical Physics at the University of Waterloo.
«But when we try to understand gravity on a cosmic scale, at the scale of galaxy clusters and beyond, we are faced with obvious discrepancies with the predictions of general relativity. It's almost as if gravity itself is no longer perfectly aligned with Einstein's theory. We call this discrepancy a „cosmic glitch“: gravity becomes about one percent weaker over distances of billions of light years— he continued.
For more than twenty years, physicists and astronomers have been trying to create a mathematical model that explains the apparent contradictions of the general theory of relativity. Many of these efforts were undertaken at the University of Waterloo, which has a long history of cutting-edge gravitational research resulting from ongoing interdisciplinary collaborations between applied mathematicians and astrophysicists.
«Almost a century ago, astronomers discovered that our Universe is expanding, — said Niayesh Afshordi, professor of astrophysics at the University of Waterloo and researcher at the Perimeter Institute, — The further away the galaxies, the faster they move — to such an extent that they appear to move at almost the speed of light, the maximum allowed by Einstein's theory. Our results show that on these very scales, Einstein's theory may not be sufficient».
The new «cosmic glitch» model developed by the research team modifies and extends Einstein's mathematical formulas in a way that eliminates the inconsistency of some cosmological measurements without affecting existing successful applications of general relativity.
«Think of it as a footnote to Einstein's theory. Once you reach cosmic scale, these terms and conditions will apply», — Wen said.
«This new model may be the first clue to a cosmic mystery that we are beginning to unravel in space and time»,— said Afshordi.