Neutrino ripples spotted in space; Universal lumpiness is imprinted in mysterious particles

Nature Magazine ^ | 17 June 2005 | Mark Peplow

[AntiGuv]

Does this neutrino discovery have any bearing on the recent hypothesis that light originates due to minute deviations from Lorentz symmetry? I'm just curious and don't know enough to answer the question for myself.

[PatrickHenry]

Does this neutrino discovery have any bearing on the recent hypothesis that light originates due to minute deviations from Lorentz symmetry? I'm just curious and don't know enough to answer the question for myself.

I donno either, but here's a link: Light May Arise From Tiny Relativity Violations.

[RightWhale]

Greene is the only popularizer I know of who has said just how big the universe has to be in order to look flat in our locality.

[King Prout]

bflr

[TXnMA]

These microwaves are the remnants of light that shone 300,000 years after the Big Bang, when light was first free to move in a straight line without being blocked by the soupy material of the early Universe.

And God said, "Let there be light."

(Just pointing out that, to those who really understand both, there is no conflict between the outline account of creation in Genesis, and the detailed observations of many generations of scientists.)

[TXnMA]

And this is useful information because...?

Because incrementally-increased knowledge is infinitely superior to persistent, willfully imposed ignorance.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Doctor Stochastic]

Without those lumps, the universe would be a rather boring place.

Talk to me, Harry Winston, talk to me!"

[TXnMA]

The universe didn't become transparent all in a jiffy; there is no "sphere of last scattering", although people talk about it that way. IIRC, it took of order 10,000 years for the mean free path of a photon to go from about zero to something larger than the radius of the Hubble sphere (i.e., effectively infinite).

Thank you. I believe that helps clarify (no pun intended) why the CMBR (as measured by COBE, etc.) is non-homogenous.

Do I interpret your statement correctly in that it was density inhomogeneity during the ("variably-translucent"[my term]) "time-dependent opacity" period that produced the observed patterning in the CMBR?

And, is this (non-read-yet) paper supposedly saying that, absent the (earlier?) smoothing influence of neutrinos, the inhomogeneity would have been more pronounced?

(I am having difficulty visualizing the purported "smoothing" mechanism attributed to neutrinos...)

[Ichneumon]

I’d rather read this than another Michael Jackson update.

*applause*.

And this is far more likely to have lasting value to humanity in the long run, too.

[Ichneumon]

I shudder at the thought of an outside world, where I, in my backwoods-redneck-closedminded-ness, might be discovered as having not heard the latest liturgy.

Good thing you're not *defensive* about it...

[Ichneumon]

No, but, utter uselessness is a measure for the sane to avoid it.

And you're so completely certain that this research is "utterly useless" because...?

I'm so glad that we have you here to grace us with your omniscience about which lines of research will never bear any fruit and which will...

[Poser]

But... But... Butt... I thought the universe was only 6,000 years old. Oh well.

I'm lumpy. I guess the universe has the right to be lumpy as well.

[Ichneumon]

The article basicly says that, since the neutrino pattern follows the same pattern we have observed throughout the universe, that this must be further proof of our theory concerning the origin of that pattern.

Correct, since the pattern being matched is the one predicted by that particular "theory concerning the origin".

But if you use the word "circular," one one the evos-lurking-with-great-shock-at-our-impertinence will club you over the head

And rightly so, since there's nothing circular about it, and anyone who claims that it is obviously doesn't understand the issue.

[neutrino]

At last! A truly useful article about a worthwhile subject. Thanks for posting this!

[PatrickHenry]

I somehow overlooked pinging you.

[neutrino]

Sadly, we're often overlooked.

But the article gives me hope.

(Grin!)

[RadioAstronomer]

I need to read the paper as well. :-)

[RightWingAtheist]

You're not overlooked. You're just difficult to find :)