A new theory is gaining support in the scientific world: it would be possible for our galaxy to be located in a huge cosmic vacuum. The discovery could provide an explanation for one of the biggest riddles of modern cosmology, the so-called “Hubble tension”.
The researchers found a possible explanation for “Hubble tension”. Photo: Shutterstock
A team of researchers has published new convincing evidence suggesting that our galaxy, Milky way, It is located in a large cosmic vacuum, a region of the universe with a significantly lower density than the universal average.
This scenario could explain a real and persistent problem in modern physics: the discrepancy between the different estimates of the expansion speed of the universe, known as “Hubble tension”.
According to the conclusions published in the prestigious Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society magazine, quoted by the British press, researchers at Portsmouth and St Andrews universities analyzed data gathered in the last two decades on barionic acoustic oscillations, ie the echoes of sound waves generated in the first moments after the Big Bang.
The study suggests that our galaxy is not placed in a uniform region of the universe, but in an area of about 20% less matter than the cosmic average, and this could influence the measurements regarding the expansion rate of the observable universe.
“A potential solution to this inconsistency is that our galaxy is close to the center of a large local vacuum. This would cause the matter to be attracted to gravity towards the outside of the emptiness, which has a higher density, which would lead to emptying the void in time. As the emptiness is emptied, the speed of the objects that would not exist. Faster local expansion rates ” explained Dr. Dintranil Banik, a researcher at the University of Portsmouth.
In order to support this theory, scientists have analyzed the barionic acoustic oscillations (BAO), which represent the imprint of sound waves propagated by the hot plasma of the young universe, before the formation of stars and galaxies. These echoes from the primordial era serve as “cosmic rules” to measure the large -scale structure of the universe.
“Our results suggest that a universe with a local vacuum is about 100 million times more likely than a cosmos without one,” said Dr. Banik, continuing: “This means that the probability of a vacuum universe that matches this data is equivalent to an equitable currency that falls up 13 times in a row.”
What is Hubble tension?
Hubble tension is a major discrepancy in cosmology: measurements made based on observations in the early universe (such as cosmic background radiation) offer a different value from those based on close galaxies, which has generated numerous controversies and speculation. The theory of cosmic vacuum offers a possible explanation for this apparent contradiction, without the need to rewrite the fundamental laws of physics.
Even if the hypothesis still requires confirmations, the study authors believe that this could be a missing link in understanding the structure and evolution of the universe.
