Physicists say they may have detected a powerful glitch in the universe

“Once you reach the Cosmic Realm, terms and conditions apply.”

Einstein 2.0

Researchers have discovered what they call a “cosmic glitch” in gravity, which could help explain the universe’s strange behavior on a cosmic scale.

As detailed in A New paper Published in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle PhysicsA team from the University of Waterloo and the University of British Columbia in Canada hypothesizes that Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity may not be sufficient to explain… The expansion of the universe accelerated.

“Einstein’s model of gravity was essential to everything from the Big Bang theory to imaging black holes,” said lead author and graduate student in mathematical physics at the University of Waterloo, Robin Wein. Statement about the research. “But when we try to understand gravity at the cosmic level, at the level of galaxy clusters and beyond, we encounter clear contradictions with the predictions of general relativity.”

“It’s as if gravity itself has completely stopped matching Einstein’s theory,” he added. “We call this discrepancy a ‘cosmic glitch’: gravity becomes about 1% weaker when dealing with distances of billions of light-years.”

flaw

In response, the team came up with a new model for such a “glitch” that modifies Einstein’s theory to resolve these contradictions.

“Think of it as a footnote to Einstein’s theory,” Wen said in the statement. “Once you reach the Cosmic Realm, terms and conditions apply.”

It’s one possible solution to a problem that astronomers and physicists have been puzzling over for decades.

“Almost a century ago, astronomers discovered that our universe was expanding,” explained co-author and University of Waterloo astrophysics professor Niesh Afshordi. “The farther away the galaxies are, the faster they move, to the point where they appear to be moving at almost the speed of light, the maximum allowed by Einstein’s theory.”

“Our findings suggest that on these same scales, Einstein’s theory may also be inadequate,” he added.

According to Afshordi, the proposed correction of the “cosmic imbalance” is only the beginning.

“This new model may be just the first clue in the cosmic puzzle that we are beginning to unravel across space and time,” he said.

More about the expansion of the universe: Physicists suggest that the universe is full of matter that moves faster than light