New Measurements of Gravity Suggest Theory Proposed by Albert Einstein Could Be Wrong

Christopher Plain·

A new study that used measurements of cosmic phenomena shows that the theory of gravity proposed by Albert Einstein could be flawed. Previous attempts to verify Einstein’s famous predictions have typically fallen in his favor. However, this latest attempt to rectify the disparity between the 20th-century physicist’s general theory of relativity and actual cosmological measurements points to the possibility that it may finally be time to rethink Einstein’s theory of gravity.

Einstein’s Theory of Gravity is Excellent at Explaining Some Things, but Not Everything

Gravity is everywhere and affects everything. For over a century, Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity has been remarkably successful in describing and predicting how gravity affects things like planets and stars. But it hasn’t always held up under extremely small scales.

That’s where quantum physics takes over, attempting to describe the behavior of matter and energy at the quantum scale. As such, numerous experiments trying to rectify gravity at these small scales with gravity at much larger scales are ongoing, affecting everything from manufacturing at the atomic scale to quantum computers.

At the same time, cosmologists and physicists have noted that Einstein’s well-tested theories may also have an issue at the largest scales, particularly when it comes to explaining the vast expanse of the entire universe. In an attempt to rectify this tension between Einstein and cosmology, a team of researchers decided to take a closer look at actual measurements of massive structures like distant galaxies and supernovae. And their results show that it may finally be time to rethink old Albert’s theories, especially at such massive scales.

Using Real-World Observations to Test Einstein’s Theory of gravity Reveals Inconsistencies

“To find out whether general relativity is correct on large scales, we set out, for the first time, to simultaneously investigate three aspects of it,” the study’s primary researchers wrote in a piece for The Conversation. “These were the expansion of the universe, the effects of gravity on light, and the effects of gravity on matter.”

 

This investigation involved reconstructing a model of the entire universe from the Big Bang until the present day to see if recent measurements of cosmological phenomena combined with known constants (like an ever-expanding universe, or the idea that there is 70% dark energy, 25% dark matter and 5% ordinary matter in the cosmos) are similar to what is predicted by Einstein, or if his theory falls apart at such an enormous scale.

Specifically, the research team, led by Kazuya Koyama, a Professor of Cosmology from the University of Portsmouth, and Levon Pogosian, a Professor of Physics at Simon Fraser University, used real-world measurements taken by satellites and telescopes to build their model. This included measurements of the Cosmic Background Radiation (the light left over from the Big Bang) made by the Planck satellite, various catalogs of supernovae made by Hubble and other telescopes, and observations of the shapes and distributions of distant galaxies made by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Dark Energy Survey (DES) telescopes.