More black holes than I can explain

80 percent is how much ultraviolet light is “missing” in space. This was recently announced by scientists based on observations made using the Cosmic Origins spectrograph installed in the Hubble Space Telescope. This means that it must be five times more than what we write down. This is just one of many examples of mysteries and mysteries of the universe that still exist.

The amount of cosmic ionized hydrogen indicates the missing radiation. After all, the atoms had to receive photons from somewhere, which "knocked out the electrons" from their orbits around the atomic nuclei. Known light sources - quasars or - are not enough to explain such a large number of ionized atoms.

Of course, this may be due to insufficient sampling of the space taken for comparison. The researchers suggest that, on a larger scale, the balance of ions and radiation may coincide. One may, however, ask whether this does not mean that the cosmos is heterogeneous and somewhere very different from what we see in the neighborhood?

The recurring thought of a hologram

The holographic principle is a theory developed by Gerardus t Hooft and Leonard Susskind which, in its "strong version", states that a description of every three-dimensional body or region of space is contained in a two-dimensional surface surrounding that body.

1. Graphic representation of the holographic experiment

In a more speculative, “weak” version, it proclaims that the entire Universe can be viewed as a two-dimensional information structure “drawn” on the cosmological horizon. The holographic principle can be used to explain the information paradox black holes in the context of string theory.

The idea of ​​a space hologram belongs to Stephen Hawking himself. In the mid-70s, Hawking theoretically predicted that black holes would eventually evaporate and disappear. This pair is called Hawking radiation. It does not contain any information about the black hole, so when it evaporates, all data about the star from which the black hole formed are lost forever.

However, this contradicts the widely held belief that information cannot be destroyed. Thus, an information paradox was created. black hole. Jacob Bekenstein, a scholar at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, set out to resolve this paradox. In his opinion, the entropy of a black hole, a synonym for the information it contains, is proportional to the area of ​​its event horizon.

The event horizon is a theoretical point beyond which there is no return, i.e. everything that crosses it is absorbed by the black hole. Based on the theories of Hawking and Bekenstein, theorists have concluded that microscopic quantum waves at the event horizon can encode information about black holes. This means that XNUMXD information about the star that formed the black hole can be encoded in the XNUMXD event horizon of the black hole.

Susskind and Hooft extended this to the entire universe, suggesting that it also has an event horizon. This is the place to which it has expanded during its existence. String theorists agree with this view.

The experiment, which began in the summer of 2014, codenamed Fermilab E-990, is said to "test whether the universe is a hologram." Its goal is to demonstrate the quantum nature of space itself and the presence of what scientists call “holographic noise.”

As is known, Heisenberg's quantum uncertainty principle shows that it is impossible to simultaneously determine the exact location and speed of elementary particles. Now scientists want to find out whether the space in which matter resides, vibrates and moves has the same uncertainty, i.e. also has a quantum character.

If it were constant and not subject to quantum fluctuations, then it would represent a theoretical reference point that allows one to accurately describe particles. But scientists suspect that this is not the case, and the geometry of space is also subject to such quantum fluctuations, which they call "holographic noise."

The experiment planned at Fermilab is to test a device called a holometer. It consists of two side by side interferometers that send one kilowatt laser beams to a device that splits them into two perpendicular 40-meter beams.

Then they return to the division point, creating fluctuations in the brightness of the light rays. If they cause a certain movement in the device of division, then this will prove the vibration of space itself (1). Back in 2009, Craig Hogan, a physicist from the same Fermilab, proposed a holographic theory based on his experiments.

He found that the noise comes from the edge of space-time, where time and space stop forming a continuum. The theory of holograms explains well some of the paradoxes associated with black holes or the basic concepts of the structure of the universe.

Some scientists propose to extend it to the whole of reality. However, accepting it would mean that we agree with the concept that all our everyday experience is nothing but a holographic reflection of the physical process taking place in a distant two-dimensional space.

2. Advanced space-based laser interferometer antenna - eLISA

Take a Closer Look at Space

The existence of primary gravitational waves is also associated with the "noise" of space-time. Considered by some to be the most important scientific event of the century, their high-profile discovery by astronomers and the BICEP2 observatory has already been called into question, as skeptics believe that the observations do not account for cosmic dust and therefore may be wrong. .

However, in practice, this does not invalidate the discovery, but only means that its results may need additional verification. It has been said that this is the best confirmation of general relativity, and although it is neither the only proof of the truth of Albert Einstein's claims, nor, apparently, the most convincing, the vision of the great physicist must be verified many times over so that there is no doubt that it is the best description of the universe.

In the coming years, scientists will have and will have more and more tools to study the phenomena known until now mainly from theoretical reasoning. One of them, called the Advanced Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (eLISA), is designed to detect gravitational waves resulting from the collision of huge black holes (2)

Another space observatory, Euclid, is to investigate how the universe expanded and how that relates to dark matter and energy. In turn, the Athena space telescope is expected to register powerful X-ray sources on the outskirts of black holes. The ground-based laser-interferometric gravitational observatory (LIGO) will also study black holes.

And a network of telescopes located around the globe, collectively known as the Event Horizon Telescope, can take a look at black hole at the center of our Milky Way. The biggest hopes for testing Einstein's general theory of relativity lie with yet another observatory, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA).

As the name implies, the total area of ​​the antennas of this complex should be a square kilometer (3), and its sensitivity should be 50 times higher than the capabilities of devices known to us so far. It will consist of 4 individual antennas in Western Australia and South Africa.

All elements of this system will be connected by optical fibers to a large supercomputer, whose task will be to create a complex image. SKA will start operating no earlier than 2022.

3. An array of square kilometers

Big Bang - NO!

However, before adequately accurate scientific instruments give us undoubted data, the skirmishers of theoretical astrophysics have something to show off. And they may shock you. It can be said that the new cosmological theory of Taiwanese physicists gives something for something.

In their model, dark energy disappears, which is very problematic from the point of view of many researchers. Unfortunately, we have to proceed from the fact that the Universe has neither beginning nor end. So there was no Big Bang, to which most scientists and ordinary people are already accustomed!

The author of a new model of everything, Wung-Yi Shu from the National Taiwan Tsinghua University, describes time and space not as separate elements, but as closely related elements that can be interchanged with each other.

Neither the speed of light nor the gravitational constant are constant in this model, but are factors in the transformation of time and mass into size and space as the universe expands. Shu's theory can be considered a fantasy, but the "traditional" model of an expanding universe with a 75 percent expansion of dark energy also causes problems.

Some note that with the help of this theory, scientists "replaced under the carpet" the physical law of conservation of energy. The Taiwanese theory does not violate the principles of conservation of energy, but, in turn, has a problem with microwave background radiation, which is considered a relic of the Big Bang. Work on improving his theory continues.

4. The multiverse is one of the artistic visions

The Indian scientist Abhas Mitra has also been a consistent critic of the Big Bang theory for many years. He publishes his work in major scientific journals, but most scientists ignore him. It also casts doubt on the existence black holes as modern science understands.

When the aforementioned Stephen Hawking modified his theory of black holes in early 2014, Mitra claimed that the famous physicist now says the same things about these objects that he himself has said for many years, surprised that when he is ignored, Hawking's speech is so widely commented on.

As we know, Hawking recently argued that one of the most frequently repeated "confidences" in black holes - the concept of an event horizon beyond which nothing can go is incompatible with quantum physics.

Theoretical experiments by physicist Joe Polchinski of the Kavli Institute in California show, for example, that if this impenetrable event horizon were consistent with quantum physics, it would have to be something like a wall of fire, a decaying particle.

Hawking published his new insights online as Information Preservation and Weather Prediction for Black Holes. He explained the evolution of views in an interview with Nature. Hawking's new proposal is a "visible horizon" in which matter and energy are temporarily stored and then released in a distorted form.

More precisely, this is a departure from the idea of ​​a clear boundary of a black hole. The physicist in his latest work claims that this is about black hole no absolute horizon is formed, so there is never a closed space beyond which nothing can go.

Instead, huge fluctuations of space-time occur around it, in which it is difficult to talk about a sharp separation of a black hole from the surrounding space. Another consequence of Hawking's new ideas is that matter is temporarily trapped in a black hole, which can "dissolve" and release everything from the inside. So that the information is not lost, it came out earlier black hole it will completely evaporate.

Multiverse and visions

If we combine two great discoveries in scientific reasoning - the Higgs boson of 2012 and this year, made by the BICEP2 telescope, and concerning gravitational waves, confirming the inflationary phase of the expansion of the Universe, then ... the results may be unexpected.

5. Visualization of the Universe

For example, such that without "something else" the Universe would not have existed for a very long time. British scientists from King's College London have published a paper showing that if everything we know exists in the "Higgs field" that gives particles mass, and the BICEP2 observations are correct, then it is confirmed that there was an inflationary "push" phase. particles in the Higgs field, but universe then it will take no more than a second!

Since this did not happen, we must assume the existence of an additional "something", some element, due to which the resulting universe does not immediately collapse back into itself. Meanwhile, the universe has been around for 13,8 billion years.

“If what BICEP2 showed is true, then there must be some interesting particle physics beyond the Standard Model,” comments Robert Hogan, one of the study’s authors at the University of London. The vision of a multiverse (4), in which our universe is just one of an infinity of others emerging like bubbles in soap suds, is becoming more and more popular..

Then space-time would be a much broader concept than what we observe in our bubble. Interestingly, this highly speculative concept does not undermine Einstein's theory, but puts it in an entirely new perspective. This view is a union of relativity theory with quantum mechanics.

This would mean abandoning the idea of ​​a continuous and expanding space that develops, rotates and curves in favor of something fragmented and atomized. The new physics that will emerge from this may be much simpler than the theories prevailing today!

The riddles and paradoxes that torment science will disappear. However, it is difficult to say whether others, the next, will take their places. new condition universe for it would be difficult for us to understand this, as well as the situation before the Big Bang, when there was no time, at least in the sense in which we can perceive it.

Until we have an answer and at least one definite idea about the origin, nature and fate of the universe, we should at least console ourselves with beautiful visualizations ... For example, such as the Illustris computer simulation created by astronomers.

For the first time, it was possible to recreate the evolution of the cosmos in such detail, from the period immediately after the Big Bang to the present. The supercomputers used to create the model worked on it for six months. Modeling doesn't cover it all universebecause our machines can't handle it yet.

So, we see the evolution of cosmic matter filling a cube with an edge of 350 million light years - this is a fairly large area representing the entire cosmos. The action begins 12 years after the Big Bang. It shows changes over billions of years, the formation of galaxies and larger structures.

To create this simulation, all the knowledge gained so far about the laws that govern space, and the results of telescopic observations, primarily the Hubble telescope, were used. The researchers took into account the mysterious dark matter and dark energy.

Over time, the dark matter condensed into clusters and long filaments (5), creating a kind of cosmic web. Over time, normal matter was attracted to these densities, originally consisting of a mixture of hydrogen and helium.

From it were born interstellar gas clouds, stars, galaxies and clusters of galaxies. In visualization, they vary in color from green and red to white, depending on the temperature. Even if it wasn't exactly the case, the proposed vision is not bad...