According to Einstein’s theory, the universe is deformed by matter, like a large, flexible foil. These deformations – also known as gravitational potentials – are caused by the gravitational force of celestial bodies, the University of Geneva wrote in a press release on Monday. Light is bent by these indentations, just like a glass lens.
Using the Dark Energy Survey, a project that maps the shape of hundreds of millions of galaxies, the University of Geneva researchers, together with the University of Toulouse, investigated the distribution of matter in the universe. Galaxies at four different points in time in the past were analysed.
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Zurich, a magnet for Nobel winners
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When Albert Einstein lived in Zurich, he used to prepare the groundwork for his revolutionary theories while sitting in a café. Many other Nobel Prize winners chose to spend time in the city for work, as an exhibition shows. A past laureate takes a guess at why.
Six and seven billion years ago, the depth of the depressions matched Einstein’s predictions exactly. In the near past, 3.5 and five billion years ago, the depressions were somewhat shallower than predicted. During this period, the expansion of the universe also began to accelerate.
The researchers deduced from the results that the explanation for the acceleration of the universe and the gravitational potential could be the same. Gravity could function on a large scale according to different physical laws than those predicted by Einstein.
However, the discrepancy discovered with Einstein’s theories is not large enough to invalidate his theory. More precise measurements are essential to confirm or refute the results and to find out whether this theory is still valid in our universe at very large distances. Such a more precise analysis will be possible thanks to new data from the Euclid space telescope, launched a year ago. It is expected to observe around 1.5 billion galaxies over a six-year mission.
Translated from German by DeepL/jdp
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