Posted on 10/25/2007 5:34:21 PM PDT by Nasty McPhilthy
An enormous cold spot in our universe could be explained by a cosmic defect in the fabric of space-time created shortly after the Big Bang, scientists say.
If confirmed by future studies, the finding, detailed in the Oct. 25 issue of the journal Science, could provide cosmologists with a long-sought clue about how the infant universe evolved.
But other scientists, and even members of the study team, are skeptical of the new claim.
Cosmic ice cubes
Scientists think that shortly after the Big Bang, as the universe cooled and expanded, exotic particles transformed into the particles we know today via phase transitions similar to the gas-liquid-solid transitions that matter now experiences on Earth.
And like phase transitions on Earth, defects inevitably occur. When water crystallizes to ice, for example, cloudy spots appear in the ice that mark where water molecules are misaligned. Physicists predict that similar defects happened during the phase transitions of the early universe, and that the defects took different forms.
The team thinks a cold spot in the cosmic microwave background (CMB)—an energy artifact of the Big Bang that has been detected and mapped by NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotopy Probe (WMAP) satellite—represents the most complex kind of cosmic defect, a 3-D blob-like structure called a texture.
Marcos Cruz of the Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria in Spain and colleagues analyzed the CMB cold spot, which spans 1 billion light-years across, finding it had properties consistent with a texture.
"The cosmic microwave background is the most ancient image we have of the universe, and therefore it's one of the most valuable tools to understand the universe's origins," Cruz said. "If this spot is a texture, it would allow us to discriminate among different theories that have been proposed for how the universe evolved."
'Not compelling'
Other scientists say the team's case for a cosmic defect is still weak. "It would be spectacular, and a new handle on the early universe, if this cold spot turned out to be a texture as opposed to a random fluctuation, which is perhaps a more likely explanation," said Lyman Page, a WMAP team member at Princeton University who was not involved in the study.
Liliya Williams and Lawrence Rudnick, astronomers at the University of Minnesota, recently attributed the CMB cold spot not to a cosmic defect, but to an enormous "hole" in our galaxy, devoid of stars, gas and even dark matter, a mysterious substance thought to pervade the universe but which has so far eluded direct detection.
A "cosmic defect is an intriguing and plausible explanation. However, I don't think one can dismiss a void as the cause of the CMB cold spot," Williams said in an e-mail interview. "Whatever the correct interpretation will turn out to be, it is bound to open a new window on the early universe, but what we'll see through that window is still not clear."
Study team member Neil Turok of the University of Cambridge admits his team's case is "not at all compelling" at the moment. The cold spot could be a texture, but there is a 1 percent probability it is just a random temperature fluctuation in the CMB.
"What makes this so interesting is that there are a number of follow-up checks, which can now be done," Turok said. "So the texture hypothesis is actually very testable."
A cosmic texture would cause light passing through it to bend and point in certain ways that should be detectable by future space missions, Turok said.
Read my tagline.
No Problemo Senor Cruz.....
The answer lies in another scientific article recently posted at this very location.
At the same time this cosmic defect was formed in our universe a parallel universe without the defect was also formed.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find a way for us to move to that other universe because ours is obviously defective.
See:
Parallel Universes Exist - Study
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1901596/posts
Cosmic ice cubes?
Was our Universe created by being shaken, or stirred?
Maybe it's just me...I just never found science to be a funny subject. Obviously others here do.
Hey, don't let me stop you from having fun and posting jokes.
Feel free. No problemo.
The silly stuff is what makes FR one of the finest venues for entertainment you can get. For almost fre....
ping
Bush's fault????
No, Chinese quality control.
(They shudda come to you first, you cudda helped 'em.)
My wife told me she thought it was time we became a two income family...I told her I had no problem with her taking a second job.
She’s real spoiled an wants everything. On her birthday she wanted something that went from 0 to 225 fast...Didn’t care what color it was...So I bought her a bathroom scale.
Oh, come on, it’s a rip in the fabric of space-time. If it tears, we’re screwed. Can’t we at least go out with a little humor?
bump
It’s already torn. The sun is actually a hole in the sky with light shinning through.
That's true. And most of the secret knowledge and wisdom of the ancients is hidden in the seemingly humorous and idiotic replies to keep the great unwashed from learning something they shouldn't lest they start mixing things in their garage and accidentally destroy the universe.
I want to also know what a satellite looking outward is finding and how. What is the reference and what is the equation used to find Noise Figure at 14 GHz for example? And measure it directionally?
There are students in some school classes that don't want to be there. Just like I had help in making the required sexual harassment meeting at work laughable.
Is this a story about another Chinese product recall?
Too late! We already have representatives of 14 alien races that wandered on through. You'd think we would've learned some smarts and built that cosmic wall a long, long time ago.
Did ya use props Bob?
That's not a very well thought out present. You should have bought her an F-350 4WD with the V-10 and BF Goodriches' best $350 ones. And told her the running bars are on order so she can climb up to drive it:):)
Hey, c’mon over. They’re talking ice cubes ‘n stuff!
Just jokes and stories from the past. Women there get cheap thrills with this stuff. We are all around 40 and above and are professionals. We don't pinch asses and snap bra straps walking down a hall. The State of CA requires this crap every 2 years. Which is the basis for jokes. We all work just fine together. It's just a reason for HR gals to feel useful.
Yeah, they made me go to an anger management class...I wound up failing it and got pissed. They eventually decided to pass me anyway...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.