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Beginning with the smallest fluctuations after the Big Bang, gravity orchestrated the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, creating the vast cosmic web we see today. Gravity isn’t
Beginning with the smallest fluctuations after the Big Bang, gravity orchestrated the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets, creating the vast cosmic web we see today. Gravity isn’t just what keeps us grounded, it’s also been shaping the universe since its earliest days. Recent research has provided the most accurate gravity tests at the largest scales imaginable.
By examining how cosmic structures have grown over the past 11 billion years, scientists have confirmed that gravity behaves just as predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, even when billions of light-years away.
Pauline Zarrouk, a cosmologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and working at the Laboratory for Nuclear Physics and High Energy Physics (LPNHE), investigated this cosmic evolution.
Working with the international team behind the Dark Energy Spectroscopy Instrument (DESI), Zarruk and his colleagues tracked how cosmic structures have grown over the past 11 billion years. Using DESI data, researchers have conducted the most accurate gravity test at the largest scale to date.
“General relativity has been tested very well at the scale of solar systems, but we also needed to see whether our hypothesis worked at much larger scales,” Zarruk said. he explained. “Studying the rate of galaxy formation allows us to test our theories directly, and so far we are matching the predictions of general relativity on cosmological scales.”
The findings confirm that gravity behaves as predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, even at very large distances in the Universe. This confirmation supports our leading model of the universe and narrows down alternative theories of gravity that have been proposed to explain puzzling observations such as the rapid expansion of the universe, which are often attributed to dark energy.
The research also sheds light on neutrinos, elusive particles that fly almost undetected through space.
Previous experiments had revealed that the total mass of the three types of neutrinos must be at least 0.059 electron volts (eV/c²). For perspective, the mass of an electron is approximately 511,000 eV/c². DESI results suggest that the total neutrino mass must be less than 0.071 eV/c², tightening the restrictions on these mysterious particles.
“Both our BAO results and our full-form analysis are impressive,” said Dragan Hüterer, a professor at the University of Michigan and one of the leaders of the DESI team interpreting the cosmological data. “This is the first time DESI has looked at the growth of a space structure. We demonstrate a remarkable new ability to probe modified gravity and improve constraints on dark energy models. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
DESI is no ordinary telescope. Mounted on the Nicholas W. Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, the telescope can capture light from 5,000 galaxies simultaneously. The project, funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, is in its fourth year of sky research and aims to collect data on approximately 40 million galaxies and quasars when completed.
Testing gravity on a cosmic scale is critical. Although Einstein’s theory has passed all tests in our solar system, there is always the possibility that it may behave differently in the vastness of space. By confirming that gravity works properly for billions of light-years, scientists can have greater confidence in their models of the evolution of the universe.
D., professor of physics at the University of Dallas School of Science and Mathematics. Mustafa Ishak-Bushaki led the DESI task force interpreting cosmological data.
“For this round of DESI results, I focused my efforts at UT Dallas on doing much of the analysis of gravity, which places constraints on how matter in the universe moves and how large-scale structures such as galaxy clusters develop,” Ishak-Bushaki said. explained.
“The DESI results, combined with data sets from other experiments, are consistent with general relativity operating at cosmic scales, but do not completely rule out other modified theories of gravity.”
The new results offer an expanded analysis of the first year of DESI data, which in April helped create the largest 3D map of the universe to date and revealed clues that dark energy may evolve over time.
“The latest analysis is also consistent with our previous findings supporting the theory that dark energy is dynamic rather than fixed, a crucial result for cosmic acceleration,” Ishak-Bushaki said.
The collaboration is currently analyzing data from the first three years and expects to provide updated measurements of dark energy and the expansion history of the universe by spring 2025. The latest results match previous clues that dark energy may evolve over time, adding to the excitement of what’s to come.
“Dark matter makes up about a quarter of the universe, and dark energy makes up 70 percent, and we don’t really know what it is,” said Mark Mouse, a graduate student at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley. Modeling lines of theory and validation for new analysis.
“The idea that we can take pictures of the universe and solve these big, fundamental questions is incredible.” Approximately 6 million galaxies and quasars were used in the research, allowing researchers to look back 11 billion years.
In summary, with just one year of data, DESI produced the most accurate overall measurement of the growth of space structures, surpassing previous efforts spanning decades. The DESI project stands out not only with its technological capabilities but also with its spirit of collaboration.
More than 900 researchers from more than 70 institutions around the world are a testament to what can be achieved when the global scientific community comes together. As we wait for the next results, we can’t help but wonder: What other mysteries of the universe are waiting to be revealed? The quest to understand gravity, dark matter and dark energy continues, and each new discovery brings us one step closer to unraveling the mysteries of the universe.
Source: Port Altele
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