[Epoch Times December 20, 2020](Compiled and reported by Epoch Times reporter Di Rui)Cosmic microwave background(CMB) is what scientists thinkThe Big BangOnly 380,000 years later, when it was just cooled enough to allow ions and electrons to combine to form atoms, the light propagating in the universe.
A recent study published in “Physical Review Letters” (Physical Review Letters) found thatCosmic microwave backgroundThere is a polarization effect in the data. Researchers believe that this means that the theory of parity symmetry will be broken, and new physical theories must be available to explain it.
The standard model of modern physics mentions the conservation of parity, saying that if the universe is turned over, the universe will show a mirror effect, and all the laws of physics still apply. The weak interaction between subatomic particles in radioactive decay is the only exception allowed within the scope of this theory. The discovery of any other exceptions that break the conservation of parity will be beyond the scope of the standard model of physics. In other words, it is necessary to construct a new theory of physics.
This study found that there are abnormalities in the cosmic microwave background datapolarized lightphenomenon. The phenomenon of polarized light is a phenomenon in which light is deflected and refracted in a certain direction when it shines on a certain object. Glass and water will deflect light, such as the familiar polarized sunglasses, which is an example of how this principle brings convenience to people in life. The rainbow is an example of the polarizing effect in nature.
In the early days of the universe, that is, only 380,000 years after the aforementioned Big Bang, scientists speculated that the universe was hot and dense at that time, and there were no atoms. The universe at that time was full of protons, electrons, ionized plasma, etc., opaque, like a dense fog.
After that, when the universe cools to a certain level, protons and electrons will combine to form neutral hydrogen atoms. Only then will the universe begin to transmit light, that is, photons can begin to spread freely.
In this crucial process, scientists speculate that photons will be refracted when they hit electrons, causing the cosmic microwave background light to appear polarized. So this part of the polarized light effect contains information about the critical transitional stage of the early universe. Scientists pay special attention to whether these rays are deflected by an angle.
Scientists call this angle β, and think it will reveal information about the interaction of dark matter and dark energy with the early cosmic light CMB. “If dark matter or dark energy interacts with the cosmic microwave background light, there is any phenomenon that breaks the conservation of parity, we will be able to find the characteristics from the polarization data.” One of the main researchers, High Energy Accelerator Research (High Energy Accelerator Research) Said Yuto Minami of Organisation.
In the past, scientists did not know whether the polarization feature seen in the data was caused by the deflection of the detector angle or the true β deflection angle in the light data.
The research team found a way to use the same detector to observe the light from the Milky Way. Because the distance of light in the Milky Way to the earth is relatively short, the influence of dark matter or dark energy can be ignored. Any deflection in the observation of these data indicates that it is a deflection of the observation instrument.
So the researchers subtracted the deflection of the instrument from the CMB data, and the remaining part is the beta deflection of light in the early universe that scientists want to know.
According to the study, the β deflection value obtained using this method is not zero, with a certainty of 99.2%. This seems high, but to announce a new physical discovery, the certainty must reach 99.99995%.
The researcher said that this discovery means that CMB data is a direction worthy of further research. Another researcher, Eiichiro Komatsu, an astrophysicist at the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe in Japan, said: “Obviously we have not found a way to declare physics We learn from the conclusive evidence of new discoveries, but we are very excited because our new method finally allows us to achieve measurements that were not possible before, and we see that this may contain new physics problems.”◇
Editor in charge: Sun Yun
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