There is growing evidence that some parts of the universe may be special. One of the cornerstones of modern astrophysics is the cosmological principle, according to which observers on Earth see the same thing as observers from anywhere else in the universe, and that the laws of physics are the same everywhere.
Many observations support this idea. For example, the universe looks more or less the same in all directions, with roughly the same distribution of galaxies on all sides.
But in recent years, some cosmologists have begun to question the validity of this principle.
They point to data from the study of Type 1 supernovae, which are receding from us at an ever-increasing speed, which indicates not only that the universe is expanding, but also an ever-increasing acceleration of this expansion.
Curiously, acceleration is not uniform across all directions. In some directions, the universe is accelerating faster than in others.
But how much can you trust this data? It is possible that in some directions we observe a statistical error, which will disappear with the correct analysis of the data obtained.
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Rong-Jen Kai and Zhong-Liang Tuo of the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, once again checked the data obtained from 557 supernovae from all parts of the universe and performed repeated calculations.
Today they confirmed the presence of heterogeneity. According to their calculations, the fastest acceleration occurs in the constellation Chanterelles of the northern hemisphere. These data are consistent with data from other studies, according to which there is an inhomogeneity in the cosmic microwave background radiation.
This could lead cosmologists to come to the bold conclusion that the cosmological principle is wrong.
An exciting question arises: why is the Universe heterogeneous and how will this affect the existing models of the cosmos?
Prepare for a galactic move
A group of researchers from the United States and Canada has published a map of the Milky Way's habitable zones. The article of scientists was accepted for publication in the journal Astrobiology, and its preprint is available at arXiv.org.
Milky Way
According to modern concepts, the Galactic Habitable Zone (GHZ) is defined as a region where there are enough heavy elements to form planets on the one hand, and which is not affected by cosmic cataclysms on the other. The main such cataclysms, according to scientists, are supernova explosions, which can easily "sterilize" an entire planet.
As part of the study, scientists have built a computer model of the formation of stars, as well as type Ia supernovae (white dwarfs in binary systems stealing matter from a neighbor) and type II (explosion of a star over 8 solar masses). As a result, astrophysicists were able to identify regions of the Milky Way that, in theory, are suitable for habitation.
In addition, scientists have found that around at least 1.5 percent of all stars in the galaxy (that is, about 4.5 billion of 3 × 1011 stars) inhabited planets could exist at different times.
Moreover, 75 percent of these hypothetical planets should be in tidal capture, that is, constantly "look" at the star with one side. Whether life is possible on such planets is a matter of dispute among astrobiologists.
To calculate the GHZ, scientists used the same approach that is used to analyze the habitable zones around stars. Such a zone is usually called a region around a star in which liquid water can exist on the surface of a rocky planet.
Our Universe is a hologram. Is there real reality?
The nature of the hologram - "whole in every particle" - gives us a completely new way of understanding the structure and order of things. We see objects, for example, elementary particles, separated because we see only part of reality.
These particles are not separate "parts", but facets of a deeper unity
At some deeper level of reality, such particles are not separate objects, but, as it were, a continuation of something more fundamental.
Scientists have come to the conclusion that elementary particles are able to interact with each other regardless of distance, not because they exchange some mysterious signals, but because their separation is an illusion.
If the separation of particles is an illusion, then on a deeper level all objects in the world are infinitely interconnected.
The electrons in the carbon atoms in our brains are associated with the electrons of every salmon that swims, every heart that beats, and every star that shines in the sky.
The universe as a hologram means that we are not
The hologram tells us that we are a hologram.
Scientists at the Center for Astrophysical Research at Fermilab are currently working on a Holometer device that will refute everything that humanity now knows about the universe.
With the help of the device "Holometer" experts hope to prove or disprove the crazy assumption that the three-dimensional Universe in the form as we know it simply does not exist, being nothing more than a kind of hologram. In other words, the surrounding reality is an illusion and nothing more.
… The theory that the Universe is a hologram is based on the not so long ago assumption that space and time in the Universe are not continuous.
They supposedly consist of separate parts, dots - as if from pixels, which is why it is impossible to increase the "image scale" of the Universe infinitely, penetrating deeper and deeper into the essence of things. Upon reaching a certain scale value, the Universe turns out to be something like a digital image of very poor quality - fuzzy, blurry.
Imagine a regular photo from a magazine. It looks like a continuous image, but, starting at a certain level of magnification, it disintegrates into points that make up a single whole. And also our world is supposedly assembled from microscopic points into a single beautiful, even convex picture.
An amazing theory! And until recently, she was not taken seriously. Only recent studies of black holes have convinced most researchers that there is something in the "holographic" theory.
The fact is that the gradual evaporation of black holes discovered by astronomers with the passage of time led to an information paradox - all the information contained about the interior of the hole in this case would disappear.
And this is contrary to the principle of preserving information
But Nobel Prize laureate in physics Gerard t'Hooft, drawing on the work of Jerusalem University professor Jacob Bekenstein, proved that all information contained in a three-dimensional object can be stored in two-dimensional boundaries that remain after its destruction - just like an image of a three-dimensional object can be placed in a two-dimensional hologram.
THE SCIENTIST HAS ONCE A FANTASM
For the first time, the "crazy" idea of universal illusion was born by the physicist of the University of London David Bohm, a colleague of Albert Einstein, in the middle of the XX century.
According to his theory, the whole world works in much the same way as a hologram.
As any arbitrarily small section of the hologram contains the entire image of a three-dimensional object, so every existing object is "embedded" into each of its component parts.
“It follows from this that objective reality does not exist,” Professor Bohm made a stunning conclusion then. “Even with its apparent density, the universe is fundamentally phantasm, a gigantic, luxuriously detailed hologram.
Recall that a hologram is a three-dimensional photograph taken with a laser. To make it, first of all, the photographed object must be illuminated with laser light. Then the second laser beam, adding up with the reflected light from the object, gives an interference pattern (alternation of the minima and maxima of the rays), which can be recorded on the film.
The finished shot looks like a meaningless interlayer of light and dark lines. But it is worth illuminating the picture with another laser beam, as a three-dimensional image of the original object immediately appears.
Three-dimensionality is not the only wonderful property inherent in a hologram
If a hologram with an image of, for example, a tree is cut in half and illuminated with a laser, each half will contain a whole image of the same tree, exactly the same size. If we continue to cut the hologram into smaller pieces, on each of them we will again find the image of the entire object as a whole.
Unlike conventional photography, each section of the hologram contains information about the entire subject, but with a proportional reduction in clarity.
“The principle of the hologram“everything in every part”allows us to approach the issue of organization and order in a completely new way,” explained Professor Bohm. “Throughout most of its history, Western science has evolved with the idea that the best way to understand a physical phenomenon, be it a frog or an atom, is to dissect it and study its constituent parts.
The hologram showed us that some things in the Universe do not lend themselves to exploration in this way. If we dissect something that is holographically arranged, we will not get the parts that make it up, but we will get the same thing, but with less precision.
AND HERE APPEARED ALL EXPLANATORY ASPECT
Bohm was also prompted to the "crazy" idea by the sensational experiment with elementary particles. Physicist from the University of Paris Alan Aspect in 1982 discovered that under certain conditions electrons are able to instantly communicate with each other, regardless of the distance between them.
It doesn't matter if there are ten millimeters between them or ten billion kilometers. Somehow, each particle always knows what the other is doing. Confused only one problem of this discovery: it violates Einstein's postulate about the maximum speed of propagation of interaction, equal to the speed of light.
Since traveling faster than the speed of light is tantamount to breaking a time barrier, this daunting prospect has left physicists deeply in doubt about Aspect's work.
But Bohm managed to find an explanation. According to him, elementary particles interact at any distance, not because they exchange some mysterious signals with each other, but because their separation is illusory. He explained that at some deeper level of reality, such particles are not separate objects, but in fact extensions of something more fundamental.
“The professor illustrated his intricate theory with the following example for better understanding,” wrote Michael Talbot, author of The Holographic Universe. - Imagine an aquarium with fish. Imagine also that you cannot see the aquarium directly, but you can only watch two television screens, which transmit images from cameras located one in front and the other on the side of the aquarium.
Looking at the screens, you can conclude that the fish on each screen are separate objects. Since cameras transmit images from different angles, fish look different. But as you continue to observe, after a while you will find that there is a relationship between the two fish on different screens.
When one fish turns, the other also changes direction, slightly differently, but always corresponding to the first. When you see one fish from the front, the other is certainly in profile. If you do not have a complete picture of the situation, you would rather conclude that the fish must somehow instantly communicate with each other, that this is not a coincidence."
- Explicit superluminal interaction between particles tells us that there is a deeper level of reality hidden from us, - Bohm explained the phenomenon of Aspect's experiments, - of a higher dimension than ours, as in the analogy with the aquarium. We see these particles separate only because we see only part of reality.
And the particles are not separate "parts", but facets of a deeper unity, which is ultimately as holographic and invisible as the tree mentioned above.
And since everything in physical reality consists of these "phantoms", the Universe we observe is itself a projection, a hologram.
What else a hologram can carry is not yet known
Suppose, for example, that it is the matrix that gives rise to everything in the world, at least it contains all the elementary particles that have taken or will once take any possible form of matter and energy - from snowflakes to quasars, from blue whales to gamma rays. It is like a universal supermarket that has everything.
While Bohm admitted that we have no way of knowing what else the hologram contains, he took the liberty of arguing that we had no reason to assume that there was nothing else in it. In other words, it is possible that the holographic level of the world is just one of the stages of endless evolution.
OPTIMIST'S OPINION
Psychologist Jack Kornfield, talking about his first meeting with the late now teacher of Tibetan Buddhism Kalu Rinpoche, recalls that the following dialogue took place between them:
- Could you explain to me in a few phrases the very essence of Buddhist teachings?
“I could have done it, but you will not believe me, and it will take you many years to understand what I am talking about.
- Anyway, please explain, so I want to know. Rinpoche's answer was extremely short:
- You don't really exist.
TIME CONSISTS OF GRANULES
But is it possible to "feel" this illusion with instruments? It turned out yes. For several years in Germany, the GEO600 gravitational telescope built in Hanover (Germany) has been conducting research to detect gravitational waves, space-time oscillations that create supermassive space objects.
However, not a single wave has been found over the years. One of the reasons is strange noises in the range from 300 to 1500 Hz, which the detector records for a long time. They really interfere with his work.
Researchers searched in vain for the source of the noise until Craig Hogan, director of the Center for Astrophysical Research at Fermi Laboratory, accidentally contacted them.
He stated that he understood what was the matter. According to him, it follows from the holographic principle that space-time is not a continuous line and, most likely, is a collection of microzones, grains, a kind of quanta of space-time.
- And the accuracy of the GEO600 equipment today is sufficient to record the vacuum fluctuations occurring at the boundaries of quanta of space, the very grains of which, if the holographic principle is correct, the Universe consists, - explained Professor Hogan.
According to him, GEO600 just stumbled upon a fundamental limitation of space-time - the very "grain", like the grain of magazine photography. And he perceived this obstacle as "noise".
And Craig Hogan, following Bohm, repeats with conviction:
- If the results of GEO600 meet my expectations, then we all really live in a huge hologram of universal proportions.
So far, the detector's readings exactly match its calculations, and it seems that the scientific world is on the verge of a grandiose discovery.
Experts recall that once the extraneous noise that infuriated researchers at the Bell Laboratory - a large research center in the field of telecommunications, electronic and computer systems - during experiments in 1964, already became a harbinger of a global change in the scientific paradigm: this is how the relic radiation was discovered, which proved the hypothesis about the Big Bang.
And scientists expect proof of the holographic nature of the Universe when the Holometer device will start working at full power. Scientists hope that he will increase the amount of practical data and knowledge of this extraordinary discovery, which is still related to the field of theoretical physics.
The detector is designed like this: they shine a laser through a beam splitter, from there two beams pass through two perpendicular bodies, are reflected, come back, merge together and create an interference pattern, where any distortion informs about a change in the ratio of the body lengths, since the gravitational wave passes through the bodies and compresses or stretches space unevenly in different directions.
- "Holometer" will allow to increase the scale of space-time and see if the assumptions about the fractional structure of the Universe, based purely on mathematical conclusions, will be confirmed, - suggests Professor Hogan.
The first data obtained with the new apparatus will begin to arrive in the middle of this year.
OPINION OF THE PESSIMIST
President of the Royal Society of London, cosmologist and astrophysicist Martin Rees: "The birth of the Universe will forever remain a mystery to us"
- We do not understand the laws of the universe. And you will never know how the Universe appeared and what awaits it. Hypotheses about the Big Bang, which allegedly gave birth to the world around us, or about the fact that many others may exist in parallel with our Universe, or about the holographic nature of the world - will remain unproven assumptions.
Undoubtedly, there are explanations for everything, but there are no such geniuses who could understand them. The human mind is limited. And he reached his limit. Even today, we are as far from understanding, for example, the microstructure of a vacuum as fish in an aquarium, who are completely unaware of how the environment in which they live works.
For example, I have reason to suspect that space has a cellular structure. And each of its cells is trillions of trillions of times smaller than an atom. But we cannot prove or disprove this, or understand how such a construction works. The task is too difficult, beyond the human mind.
Computer model of the galaxy
After nine months of computing on a powerful supercomputer, astrophysicists have created a computer model of a beautiful spiral galaxy that is a copy of our Milky Way.
At the same time, the physics of the formation and evolution of our galaxy is observed. This model, which was created by researchers at the University of California and the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Zurich, allows you to solve the problem facing science, which arose from the prevailing cosmological model of the universe.
“Previous attempts to create a massive disk galaxy like the Milky Way failed because the model had a bulge (central bulge) that was too large for the disk,” said Javiera Guedes, a graduate student of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California and author of a research paper on this model, called Eris (English "Eris"). The study will be published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Eris is a massive spiral galaxy with a core at its center composed of bright stars and other structural objects found in galaxies such as the Milky Way. In terms of such parameters as brightness, the ratio of the width of the center of the galaxy to the width of the disk, stellar composition and other properties, it coincides with the Milky Way and other galaxies of this type.
According to the co-author, Piero Madau, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, considerable funds were spent on the implementation of the project, which went to purchase 1.4 million processor hours of computational time on a supercomputer on a NASA Pleiades computer.
The results obtained made it possible to confirm the theory of "cold dark matter", according to which the evolution of the structure of the Universe proceeded under the influence of gravitational interactions of dark cold matter ("dark" due to the fact that it cannot be seen, and "cold" due to the fact that particles move very slowly).
“This model tracks the interaction of more than 60 million dark matter and gas particles. Its code includes the physics of processes such as gravity and hydrodynamics, star formation and supernova explosions - all in the highest resolution of any cosmological model in the world,”Guedes said.