Spacetime

A massive galaxy has created a rare distortion in the path of light that has traveled billions of years to reach us from a more distant galaxy.It's called an Einstein cross – when the curvature of space-time around a massive foreground object splits the light behind it into four, like the points of a cross. Its confirmation and analysis adds to a slowly growing catalog of these rare alignments, which can help us better understand the more distant reaches of the Universe.A paper detailing the system has been accepted by…

The very fabric of spacetime is constantly warping, on unimaginably tiny scales, as ripples from past cataclysms wash over us. Astrophysicists have now detected a background sea of gravitational waves, using a galaxy-scale detector made up of dead stars.Gravitational waves are distortions in spacetime itself, which were first predicted by Albert Einstein over a century ago. But it wasn’t until 2015 that they were directly detected for the first time, as the purpose-built LIGO facility picked up gravitational waves from a…

Astronomers and astrophysicists at five different pulsar timing array collaborations today announced data that strongly suggests the presence of a gravitational wave background: a constant murmur of low-frequency ripples in spacetime that emanates from some of the universe’s most exotic objects.Are Big Consumer Facing Tech Companies Redeemable? The discovery is an affirmation of previous suggestions from pulsar timing data that a low-frequency signal from the universe’s most gravitationally forceful sources—very possibly…

In the background: the gravitational lens effect, an example of an effect explained by relativity. With quantum particles, analogous effects can be studied. Credit: NASA / TU WienNew techniques can answer questions that were previously inaccessible experimentally — including questions about the relationship between quantum mechanics and relativity.Scientists at TU Wien and other institutions have developed a “quantum simulator” using ultracold atomic clouds to model quantum particles in curved spacetime, marking a major…

Black holes just got a lot more intriguing. According to new research, some black holes found in the universe may be kinks in space-time, tangles of light that aren’t actually black holes, but instead are theoretical objects known as “topological solitons.” These theoretical kinks in the fabric of space-time could be lurking all around our universe, new research published in Physical Review D suggests. This new research was published in April and aims to push our understanding of quantum physics to new places.…

By Paul M. Sutter, Universe Today May 17, 2023A team of theoretical physicists, using string theory, have discovered a new structure in space-time known as a “topological soliton.” These structures appear to outside observers just like black holes, but in reality, they are defects in the fabric of the universe, devoid of any matter or forces.Theoretical physicists have discovered a new space-time structure called a “topological soliton.” Resembling black holes to distant observers, these structures are actually defects in…

Researchers from University College London and the University of Potsdam, Germany have studied two most massive touching stars in a neighboring galaxy that will eventually turn into black holes and collide, sending ripples through space and time.The black holes we observe today were formed billions of years ago when there were lower levels of iron and other heavy elements floating around the universe. As the universe aged, the levels of these elements have increased, making the phenomenon of merging black holes less…

RIKEN physicists suggest that a quantum property called ‘magic’ may be the key to understanding how spacetime emerged, based on a new mathematical analysis that connects it to the chaotic nature of black holes.Physicists relate the quantum property of ‘magic’ to the chaotic nature of black holes for the first time.A quantum property dubbed ‘magic’ could be the key to explaining how space and time emerged, a new mathematical analysis by three RIKEN physicists suggests.It’s hard to conceive of anything more basic than the…

A new model could provide scientists with a better idea how gravitational waves, or ripples, created by colliding black holes affect the very fabric of space-time. The new model is part of research documented in a new paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters. According to the paper, when black holes collide or merge, they send a series of “rings” throughout the universe. This new model is important because it finally gives scientists a way to measure exactly how these ripples interact with one…

The propagation of gravitational waves through matter could reveal the ripples in space-time generated by the Big Bang.Two plasma physicists used the propagation of electromagnetic waves through plasma as an analogue for gravitational waves, devising a set of equations that describe what to look for as gravitational waves travel through stars and gas in the depths of space.These signs could reveal the elusive gravitational waves that travel through space beyond our narrow ability to detect them – the giant, low-frequency…