In 1859, French astronomer and mathematician Urbain Le Verrier detected something strange: Mercury deviated in its dance around the Sun, contradicting the orderly precession predicted by . newton physics.
This strange anomaly cannot be explained by an unknown planet pulling on Mercury’s orbit. That’s only possible through physicist Albert Einstein’s 1915 theory of general relativity. This general theory of relativity explains how gravity creates curves in the fabric of space-time.
Einstein’s general theory has held sway over the century since, but there are some things about the universe that his stirring model doesn’t explain. For example, it collapses at the center of a black hole or at the dawn of the universe, and it doesn’t fit well with quantum mechanics, so some physicists think: ponder another take About how gravity works.
Although these ideas remain fringe theories, the discovery of gravitational anomalies in widely separated twin stars with very low accelerations once again challenges Einstein’s general theory.
In a new study, astrophysicist Kyuhyun Choi of Sejong University in South Korea analyzed a space approximately 2,500 wide. binary star system It was observed by the European Space Agency’s Gaia Space Telescope and came to the conclusion that standard gravity is collapsing at certain points within its interior.
Chae was the first to report the discovery of a gravitational anomaly Until mid-2023 In studying the orbital motions of wide binaries, he discovered anomalies that he thought represented evidence for a modified theory of gravity. modified newton mechanics (Mondo).
However, some physicists disagree, suggested instead His sample had been “contaminated” by the gravitational pull of an undetected nearby planet in a binary star system. In other words, the larger-than-expected accelerations that Chae observed in some wide binaries are likely the effect of an intruder lurking in the shadows that Chae missed.
So the Sejong University physicists sought to test their method again on a smaller, more sophisticated subset of “pure” binary stars. Chae found that there was no problem because the twin stars orbiting nearby behaved consistently according to classical Newtonian mechanics.
However, binaries that are more than 2,000 AU apart appear to have a “boost” in velocity at low accelerations, contradicting the predictions of classical mechanics, regardless of whether the hypothesized dark matter is included in the model. Ta.
“This gravitational anomaly implies a low-acceleration breakdown of both Newtonian mechanics and general relativity, with profound implications for astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics.” In a new paper he writes:.
“Therefore, the importance of confirming the claimed anomaly from as many independent studies as possible cannot be overstated.”
Although the two studies by the same researchers are light years away from what would be required for results that would overturn independent validation theory, Choi believes his method is solid.he I admit Theoretical interpretations of the reported anomalies are “wide open,” he said.
But he also some big claims His paper states that “the dark matter paradigm now appears destined to be abandoned” and that “the standard cosmology based on general relativity no longer seems valid even in principle.” .
This type of claim requires repeated, ridiculously strong evidence to support it. Chae’s paper will no doubt be closely scrutinized by his peers. Nevertheless, in such discoveries we may find a way to fill the gaps in our knowledge about gravity’s remaining mysteries.
“The evidence for gravitational boost in the low acceleration region is now abundantly clear,” Choi said. write“However, the scientific community must continue to gather further evidence from future observations.”
This research astrophysical journal.