It seems that modern physics has reached its existential crisis. By observing how light from distant objects is bent, the researchers concluded that the methods for measuring the expansion rate of the Universe are not consistent with real data. According to an article published on livescience.com, Jeff Chi-fan Chen, a cosmologist at the University of California, Davis, questioned the famous Hubble constant, which was first calculated by American astronomer Edwin Hubble about 100 years ago. It is known that an outstanding scientist of the 20th century put forward a hypothesis about the rapid distance from the Earth of every galaxy in the Universe with a speed proportional to the distance of this galaxy from our solar system. So should we say goodbye to this theory or does it still have a place in modern physics?
How does the expansion of the universe take place?
The universe is an interesting thing that regularly gives scientists new opportunities for discussion and debate. This time, the universe showed scientists that while constantly expanding, it still maintains a direct relationship between two objects that are distant from each other. However, the main problem with such a beautiful and universal scientific statement is that modern researchers disagree about the very meaning of this constant. For example, measurements made using the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which is the remnant of the Big Bang, suggest that the Hubble constant is about 74,351 kilometers per hour per million light years.
Looking at the pulsating stars, another group of astronomers have calculated that the Hubble constant is approximately 81,100 kilometers per hour per million light years. Such a discrepancy in the calculations seems insignificant, but it is he who shows that some serious error has crept into the calculation methodology.
Edwin Hubble - American scientist of the 20th century, after whom the expansion constant of the Universe was named.
The researchers believe that because massive objects deform the fabric of spacetime, causing light to bend as it travels through deformed regions, any calculations they make about the expansion rate of the universe may be in error. In order to confirm or deny this statement, the H0LiCOW team, using the Hubble Space Telescope, studied light coming from six quasars located at a distance of 3 billion to 6.5 billion light-years from Earth. As the black holes of the quasars consumed matter, their light flickered, allowing scientists to investigate the length of the time delay between signals.
The result of the experiment by the H0LiCOW team showed that the value of the Hubble constant corresponds to approximately 81,000 kilometers per hour per million light years, which is very close to the value obtained by measuring the brightness of variable stars.
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Be that as it may, a large number of independently carried out measurements continue to diverge, showing new results. Experts believe that scientists may need to come up with new physics to explain what is happening. What do you think about this?
Daria Eletskaya