Menu

Blog

Archive for the ‘cosmology’ category: Page 326

Jun 12, 2019

Telescope designed to study mysterious dark energy keeps Russia’s space science hopes alive

Posted by in categories: cosmology, evolution, science

Russia’s beleaguered space science program is hoping for a rare triumph this month. Spektr-RG, an x-ray satellite to be launched on 21 June from Kazakhstan, aims to map all of the estimated 100,000 galaxy clusters that can be seen across the universe. Containing as many as 1000 galaxies and the mass of 1 million billion suns, the clusters are the largest structures bound by gravity in the universe. Surveying them should shed light on the evolution of the universe and the nature of the dark energy that is accelerating its expansion.


Spektr-RG x-ray mission will be nation’s only space observatory.

Read more

Jun 11, 2019

Let’s take an interstellar journey into a Black Hole

Posted by in categories: cosmology, space travel, supercomputing

This video shows what you will see if you fall into a black hole. It is not an artistic impression, but a result of general- relativistic supercomputer simulation by prof. Andrew Hamilton.

Read more

Jun 10, 2019

Stephen Hawking Was Right: Black Holes Can Evaporate, Weird New Study Shows

Posted by in category: cosmology

Using supersonic gas and sound waves, researchers have shown that one of Stephen Hawking’s theories about black holes was right all along.

Read more

Jun 8, 2019

Primordial oscillations, an alternative mechanism to the Big Bang

Posted by in category: cosmology

Microwave anisotropy map of the universe.

Read more

Jun 8, 2019

5 Intriguing Theories about Dark Matter

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics

Dark matter is a hypothetical invisible mass, which is responsible for the force of gravity among galaxies and other celestial bodies. Although researchers don’t have any concrete information about this puzzling entity, they did come up with a number of intriguing theories about this enigmatic mass. Following is a list of 5 dark matter theories that are quite interesting.

WIMPs are hypothetical particles that are thought to constitute dark matter. These heavy, electromagnetically neutral subatomic particles are hypothesized to make up 22% of the entire universe. They are thought to be heavy and slow-moving because if the dark matter particles were light and fast, they would not have clumped together in the density fluctuations from which galaxies and clusters of galaxies are formed. The precise nature of these particles is currently unknown and they do not abide by the laws of the Standard Model of Particle Physics.

Axions are believed to be neutral, slow-moving particles that are a billion times lighter than electrons. They rarely interact with light and this behavior has urged scientists to believe that Axion could be a building block of the dark matter. An attempt to detect these particles was made in April 2018 by the physicists from the University of Washington. The main idea of this theory suggests that if axions are constantly dashing towards Earth, powerful magnets may be able to convert some of the axions into microwave photons, which are easier to detect. Their work is commonly known as the Axion Dark Matter Experiment (ADMX) and this theory has not enjoyed much success, since then.

Continue reading “5 Intriguing Theories about Dark Matter” »

Jun 8, 2019

Scientists Solved Bizarre Mystery Of ‘The Galaxy Without Dark Matter’

Posted by in category: cosmology

The NGC1052-DF2 ultra-diffuse galaxy was first discovered and presented as the ‘galaxy without dark matter’. Astronomers from Spain found new evidence disputing the previous estimates of the galaxy’s mass and distance.

Read more

Jun 7, 2019

A quantum simulation of Unruh radiation

Posted by in categories: cosmology, particle physics, quantum physics

Researchers at the University of Chicago (UChicago) have recently reported an experimental observation of a matter field with thermal fluctuations that is in accordance with Unruh’s radiation predictions. Their paper, published in Nature Physics, could open up new possibilities for research exploring the dynamics of quantum systems in a curved spacetime.

“Our team at UChicago has been investigating a new quantum phenomena called Bose fireworks that we discovered two years ago,” Cheng Chin, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told Phys.org. “Our paper reports its hidden connection to a gravitational phenomenon called Unruh radiation.”

The Unruh effect, or Unruh radiation, is closely connected to Hawking radiation. In 1974, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking predicted that the strong gravitational force near black holes leads to the emission of a thermal radiation of particles, which resembles the emitted by an oven. This phenomenon remains speculative with no direct experimental confirmation.

Continue reading “A quantum simulation of Unruh radiation” »

Jun 6, 2019

Black Hole Computers

Posted by in categories: computing, cosmology, physics

In keeping with the spirit of the age, researchers can think of the laws of physics as computer programs and the universe as a computer.

  • By Seth Lloyd, Y. Jack Ng on April 1, 2007

Read more

Jun 6, 2019

Spacetime Geometry near Rotating Black Holes Acts Like Quantum Computer, Physicist Says

Posted by in categories: computing, cosmology, quantum physics

According to a theoretical paper published in the Annals of Physics, by Dr. Ovidiu Racorean from the General Direction of Information Technology in Bucharest, Romania, the geometry of spacetime around a rapidly spinning black hole (Kerr black hole) behaves like a quantum computer, and it can encode photons with quantum messages.

Read more

Jun 6, 2019

Black Hole Propulsion as Technosignature

Posted by in categories: cosmology, physics

When he was considering white dwarfs and neutron stars in the context of what he called ‘gravitational machines,’ Freeman Dyson became intrigued by the fate of a neutron star binary. He calculated in his paper of the same name (citation below) that gradual loss of energy through gravitational radiation would bring the two neutron stars together, creating a gravitational wave event of the sort that has since been observed. Long before LIGO, Dyson was talking about gravitational wave detection instruments that could track the ‘gravitational flash.’

Image: Artist conception of the moment two neutron stars collide. Credit: LIGO / Caltech / MIT.

Continue reading “Black Hole Propulsion as Technosignature” »