2023-07-07 18:38:00
A new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy on June 22 points to how scientists are looking to test Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity by measuring distortions in time.
The proposed method turns the boundaries between space and time into a vast laboratory to investigate whether general relativity can explain dark matter — an invisible form of matter related to gravitational influence on visible matter and energy — and the accelerated expansion of the universe thanks to dark energy.
With that, the theory of 1915 continues to reaffirm its hypotheses in different ways until today. Basically general relativity states that gravity is the result of mass deforming the fabric of space and time, grouped together in the so-called space-time. In this case, time passes more slowly near a massive object than in a massless vacuum, and this change in the passage of time is called distortion.
“The time distortion predicted by general relativity has already been measured very precisely over small distances. It has been measured for planes flying around the Earth, for stars in our galaxy, and also for clusters of galaxies. We propose a method to measure time distortion over very large distances,” Camille Bonvin, lead author of the study and associate professor at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, wrote to Live Science.
The method proposes to evaluate the temporal dilation by measuring the red shift, the change in the frequency of light emitted by an object as it moves away from us. Bonvin said the distinction lies in the fact that this technique measures the redshift that results when light tries to escape a gravitational field, a warping of spacetime caused by a massive object.
The team’s new approach also promises to test Euler’s formula, which astronomers use to calculate the motion of galaxies. The team’s proposal to measure time warp could confirm whether dark matter follows Euler’s equation, as previous research on time warp suggests.
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