TASS, April 25th. Observations of one of the brightest quasars helped cosmologists find new hints that in the first epochs of the life of the Universe fine structure constant, one of the most important fundamental constants, in far corners of space was somewhat different. Conclusions of scientists published a scientific journal Science advances.
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“Trying to track the differences in the value of the fine structure constant, we traced the quasar J1120 + 0641, the light from which reaches us for 12.9 billion. At that time the universe was only 800 million years old. So far, this is the most distant direct measurements of this kind, which indicate that its value changes with distance, “the scientists write.
Today, scientists are actively arguing about whether the laws of physics were always the same or during the Big Bang and in the first epochs of the life of the universe, when its borders expanded inexplicably quickly, they could differ from modern ones.
In particular, in the last ten years, cosmologists have been actively debating whether the value of one of the most important physical constants, the so-called fine structure constant, has changed. It determines the nature of the interactions between electromagnetic radiation and matter. Now it is 137.035, but in the past, as previous observations of white dwarfs showed, it could be different.
John Webb, a professor at the University of New South Wales (Australia), and his colleagues have been working on this problem for decades, trying to find out the slightest shifts in the structure of the spectrum of quasars – black holes in the centers of distant galaxies. For this, scientists use the most sensitive spectrometers and telescopes.
In the past, Webb and his colleagues have already hinted that the significance of the fine structure constant in the first epochs of the life of the Universe was different. However, their colleagues were skeptical of such measurements – because of their low accuracy. Subsequently, both arguments appeared in favor of their theories and against it.
Inconsistency of the Universe
Observing the supermassive black hole J1120 + 0641, which is located in the constellation Leo in the center of an invisible galaxy for us, Australian astronomers have presented new evidence of their innocence. Due to the huge distance to this object, we see it in the state in which it existed 12.9 billion years ago, just 800 million years after the birth of the Universe.
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Scientists used this to calculate the value of the fine structure constant in that era. They analyzed the location of certain “dark” lines in the spectrum of J1120 + 0641. Such lines show how the energy levels in different types of atoms are arranged; with their help, scientists can calculate the value of the fundamental constant associated with them with high accuracy if there is little interference in the spectrum.
Scientists were helped to solve this problem by the ultra-sensitive X-SHOOTER spectrograph mounted on a VLT optical telescope. Using this tool, cosmologists were able to measure the value of the fine structure constant in four distant corners of space, through which light J1120 + 0641 passed on the way to Earth.
Combining these results, Webb and his colleagues concluded that in the early Universe, the value of this fundamental constant was indeed different. In addition, it turned out that the degree of discrepancy between current and past values of the fine structure constant does not depend on the amount of elapsed time, but on the spatial position of those points where measurements were taken.
Cosmologists can not yet say what generates this effect. However, if it really exists, it can be said that the physical principles that govern the life of different parts of the Universe can differ significantly from each other.
This is supported by the fact that recently the Chandra telescope and a number of other observatories, observing hundreds of the largest clusters of galaxies, found the first significant hints that the process of expanding the boundaries of the universe proceeds at different speeds in different regions of space.
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