http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20000510/space_universe.html
Flat Universe Missing its Matter
By Larry O'Hanlon,
Discovery.com News
May 10, 2000 - Scientists recently settled the argument over the shape of
the universe, declaring it flat and slowly expanding. Yet the reason for the
universe's flatness is more mysterious than ever.
A new study in the current issue of Nature measuring the amount of matter in
the universe can only account for a little over 30 percent - not enough to
keep the universe flat.
The shape of the universe is determined by how matter warps space - warping
that is felt as gravity. If the universe is low on matter it would keep
expanding forever at an ever-accelerating rate. If there's too much matter,
gravity pulls everything back together again into a Big Crunch.
Cosmologists refer to both extremes as "curved" universes, says researcher
Kim Griest of the University of California, San Diego.
Our universe falls in between: not enough matter to pull things back
together again, but enough to keep the universe from a runaway, ever-faster
expansion, he explains. For that reason scientists call ours a "flat"
universe.
On a smaller scale, like inside a galaxy, heavier pockets of matter can
create localized dents in space like dents left by hailstones on the hood of
a car. Those dents can bend the path of light as it travels through space,
just as the path of ball bearings rolling on the car hood would be
redirected by the dents.
This "gravitational lensing" of light, as scientists call it, causes some
strange optical illusions in space, such as the double image of a galaxy,
the light of which has been split into two images by the intense gravity of
a black hole located somewhere between the galaxy and Earth.
On a universal scale, the pervasive, but far less intense, gravity of all
the matter that exists can subtly shift the paths of light, causing weak
distortions in the images of distant objects.
The more matter the light passes by, the more a certain type of distortion
occurs. By measuring these distortions in the images of 145,000 distant
galaxies, David Wittman and his team at Bell Labs in New Jersey came up with
an estimate of how much matter there is in the universe.
"The lensing discovery is very, very exciting," said researcher Max Tegmark
of the University of Pennsylvania.
The trouble is the researchers were searching for the elusive dark matter -
a previously undetected substance expected to account for about 95 percent
of the universe's matter. The other three to five percent is made up of
ordinary matter - the stuff humans and planets are made of.
But Wittman's team only found enough dark matter to account for 30 percent
off the matter needed to fit a flat universe theory.
Making matters worse, just last month scientists used a completely different
method to produce the best evidence ever confirming that the universe is
indeed flat. They used measurements of the microwave afterglow of the Big
Bang - the theoretical creation of the universe.
The scientists measured how much microwave radiation is coming from
particular patches in the sky. If the patches put out more microwaves (or
less) than the flat universe theory predicts, it would have meant that the
microwaves were being concentrated (or dispersed) by a curvature of the
universe. As it turns out, microwave emissions match what flat universe
theoreticians predicted.
The challenge now facing scientists is finding the matter to support a flat
universe theory, says Tegmark.
One way out of the bind is what's called the cosmological constant.
First proposed by Einstein, the cosmological constant refers to a force
generated by the vacuum of space that creates more space out of nowhere,
says Griest. If it exists, that would mean the universe is getting larger
faster, and changes all the equations about how much matter is needed to fit
a flat universe.
================================
Robert F. Tatman
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Jenkintown, PA, USA
"Y Gwir Yn Erbyn y Byd"--Y Bardd Cymraeg
"The Truth Against the World"--motto of the Welsh bards
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths,
misdirections
and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and
minor
effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said,
CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
<A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
