12/07/2023
Study proves Albert Einsteinโs theory of time moving 5 times slower after the big bang
Study proves Albert Einsteinโs theory of time moving 5 times slower after the big bang
Albert Einstein is one of the most prominent names in the world of science. As a luminary, his theories are still studied and continue to be proven right. Recently, his theory of time relativity was found to be correct by Lewis and Brendon Brewer of the University of Auckland in their new paper, as reported by Space.com. The objective of the study published in Nature Astronomy was to confirm the effect of time dilation with respect to Quasars. The study concluded that time was five times slow in the quasars of the early universe.
Quasars are defined as galaxies that are extremely active in nature and their strength comes from an accreting supermassive black hole at the center. The accretion disk present around the black hole is relatively small in size. The fluctuations produced by light that gets emitted by the quasar can be completed in a matter of days. Hence, these fluctuations are comparatively easy to track in order to prove the theory of time relativity.
Geraint Lewis, a cosmologist at the University of Sydney, told Space.com regarding the findings of the paper, "At its heart, this is another 'Einstein is right again' story." The emission of light and its fluctuations occurred 12 billion years ago with quasars. The quasars have remained intact even though the universe has undergone a lot of expansion in the last 12 billion years. Therefore, the expectation was that the quasars would exhibit the behavior they did millions of years ago but previous searches have not been successful in analyzing this behavior.
Finally, Lewis and Brendon Brewer of the University of Auckland have been able to conduct a proper analysis because of the tools provided by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), Pan-STARRS, and the Dark Energy Survey. The subject for this study is a new sample of 190 high-redshift quasars. The time dilation effect was figured out through a long period of observation which was combined with telescopic sensitivity to the quasar fluctuations. The outcome was that the slow pace at which the fluctuations were occurring suggested that time in these quasars was at least five times slower in comparison to what humans felt with respect to Earth.
Lewis said about the study, "We can pin down the characteristics of their variability and show that quasars truly play ball with the cosmos". Time was not slow with reference to things around them and was normal with respect to their frame of reference. Einstein's theory of relativity has its basis in the frame of reference. The theory further implies that these frames can be distinguished on the basis of relative velocity.
Lewis explained, "The motion of distant galaxies is due to expanding space." The value of the Hubble Constant is used to describe how fast a volume of space 3.26 million light-years across is expanding per second. This is known as an incremental effect. In this effect, expanding volume of space adds up with each other. Hence, the farther the galaxy is from humans, the more space gets expanded between the galaxy and humans, and the faster it seems that the galaxy is moving away from humans. Lewis said in relation to this, "Some of these quasars were moving faster than the speed of light, relative to us, when the photons were emitted."
Einstein had previously proven that time dilation occurs when the speed of light is approached. Time dilation has been observed in tiny amounts in satellites orbiting around the Earth. It has also been seen in supernovae that exploded 6 to 7 billion years ago, but this study marks the first time this aspect has been noted in objects farther than that. The study along with proving the theory of relativity also showcases that the universe as an entity is always expanding because of the Big Bang.
If the universe would not have undergone expansion then the quasars would not appear to be in motion at relativistic speed with respect to humans. In regards to the study, Lewis concluded by putting to bed some of the more extreme ideas that had been proposed, including that "cosmologists have it all wrong due to the previous failure to see quasar time dilation."
