Window into early Universe opened

 

Newly discovered evidence suggests the presence of a cosmic defect that could date back to the Big Bang.

Scrabble Word Finder

An international partnership between Spanish and UK cosmologists has observed an unusual cold spot in the oldest radiation in the Universe, known as the cosmic microwave.

Although the discovery needs confirmation through further research, it could provide cosmologists with a clue into how the infant Universe evolved.
 
This study was published online by the journal Science, yesterday.

Joanne Baker, an associate editor at Science, said: “These findings open up the possibility of looking for cosmic defects, similar to crystal defects, in the fabric of the Universe. Although their existence has been proposed by theorists for decades, no defects have been seen. The jury is still out on the cold spot’s origin, but this surprising finding will be testable and may lead to new views of the cosmos in its infancy in years to come.”

“Science is honoured to be publishing this important research, and it seems fitting that an international collaboration between Spanish and British scientists be presented the same week that Spain is celebrating the importance of scientific achievement, through the Prince of Asturias Awards,” she added.

Cautious optimism

The researchers, however, are careful to say they have not discovered a defect. Alternatively, they say that they have found evidence in the cosmic microwave background - the frozen map of the early Universe from the time when the first atoms formed and became separate from photons, hundreds of thousands of years after the Big Bang. It could be explained by the presence of a defect.

Because defects would have formed at extremely high temperatures, at particle energies far in excess of those achievable at laboratory accelerators, their properties would provide physicists with powerful clues as to the fundamental nature of elementary particles and forces.
 
"It will be very interesting to see whether this tentative observation firms up in coming years. If it does, the implications will be extraordinary. The properties of the defect will provide an absolutely unique window onto the unification of particles and forces," said Neil Turok of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, who is a co-author of the study.

"This could allow us to discriminate among different theories that have been proposed for how the Universe evolved.” Marcos Cruz

Shortly after the Big Bang, the Universe began to cool and expand, undergoing a variety of phase transitions - more exotic versions of the gas-liquid-solid transitions that matter experiences on Earth.

In both the early Universe and in the average kitchen freezer, when matter changes phase, it does so irregularly. In an ice cube, for example, cloudy spots mark defects that form as the water crystallises.

In the mid-1970's, particle physicists realised that different sorts of defects should also have developed as various particles separated from the infant Universe's hot plasma.

“The cosmic microwave background is the most ancient image we have of the Universe and therefore it’s one of the most valuable tools to understand the Universe’s origins. If this spot is a texture, it would allow us to discriminate among different theories that have been proposed for how the Universe evolved,” said study leader Marcos Cruz of the Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria, in Santander, Spain.

The research team then analysed WMAP data and determined that the cold spot had the properties that would be expected if it had been caused by a cosmic texture.

Explore space and time with Stephen Hawking

Professor Stephen Hawking’s quest for a ‘Theory of Everything’ has brought physics – and the general reading public – to places they had never been before. But what has your experience of the book been like? Unputdownable or unreadable? Does it deserve its status as one of the world’s ‘unread bestsellers"? Let us know your thoughts on supernovae, black holes and dark matter …you might even win something.

You’ve read it. Now review it.

Back to top

Back to top