One of the principles of Einstein's general theory of relativity is that any rotating body in the Universe drags along with it the very nearby fabric of space-time. In order to detect such a phenomenon near the Earth, scientists need expensive devices in the form of gravitational probes, according to sciencealert.com. Fortunately for us, there are many natural laboratories in the Universe where physicists can observe the fulfillment of Einstein's predictions in the smallest detail and without building multimillion-dollar structures. One of these places is the surroundings of a recently discovered white dwarf, proving by their example the hypothesis of the great Austrian scientist put forward at the beginning of the 20th century.
Stars are able to rotate time in their surroundings
A pair of compact stars recently discovered by researchers may be evidence of a unique phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein in the early 20th century. Rotating around each other at a dizzying speed, objects move in a highly curved space-time, which is quite consistent with modern theory of relativity. So, one of her postulates indicates that the faster an object rotates and the more massive it is, the stronger the pressure on the surrounding matter is. This phenomenon remains the most relevant for white dwarfs, which, despite all their tiny dimensions by universal standards, have a huge density. Such objects, which are, in fact, the remnants of ancient stars, are able to complete a revolution around their axis in 1-2 minutes, and not in 24 hours, as our Earth does.
Pulsars - the fastest rotating objects in the universe.
In order for astronomers to observe the angular momentum of white dwarfs, they often have to view them through orbiting stars called pulsars. Compared to white dwarfs, pulsars are not made of atoms, but special particles - neutrons, which make these unusual objects rotate even faster than white dwarfs - more than 150 times per minute. Knowing that pulsars have this property can help us display the trajectory of a detected object as it orbits a white dwarf. For example, a pair of two stars, officially called PSR J1141-6545, is an ideal gravitational laboratory with reciprocal rotation lasting less than 5 hours.
Although PSR J1141-6545 is located at a distance of several hundred quadrillion kilometers, we already know that the pulsar of this pair rotates about 2.5 times per second. A white dwarf in this unusual system drags along space and time, forcing the orbital plane of the pulsar to tilt as it moves. Well, perhaps it would be interesting to see one day the processes occurring in the vicinity of objects, next to which the space itself can slow down and stretch.
Daria Eletskaya
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