New research led by astronomers at the University of Hawaii suggests that our universe could spin.
In the formation of the universe, gravity links galaxies with clusters of galaxies to construct vast co-nes-like structures that link hundreds of millions of light years along an invisible bridge. This is known as Cosmic Web. Image credit: Springel et al. / Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.
“To paraphrase the Greek philosopher Heracritus of Ephesus, he famously said Pantarei – he thought everything would change, perhaps Panta Kaicurtai – he thought everything would change.”
According to current models, the universe expands evenly in all directions with no signs of rotation. This idea fits most of what astronomers observe.
But that doesn’t explain the so-called Hubble tension. It is a long-standing discrepancy between two ways of measuring how quickly the universe is expanding.
One method examines distant exploding stars or supernovas to measure distances to galaxies, providing the magnification of the universe over the past billions of years.
Another method uses artefact radiation from the Big Bang, providing a very early universe expansion rate, about 13 billion years ago. Each gives a different value for the expansion rate.
Dr. Szapudi and his colleagues developed a mathematical model of the universe.
First, the model followed standard rules. They then added a small amount of rotation. Those small changes made a huge difference.
“To my surprise, we found that our model solves paradoxes without conflicting with current astronomical measurements,” Dr. Szapudi said.
“What’s even better is that it’s compatible with other models that assume rotation.”
“So perhaps everything really changes.
The team’s models suggest that the universe could turn once every 500 billion years.
“This idea does not break known laws of physics,” the astronomer said.
“And maybe it explains why measurements of space growth are completely disagreeable.”
“The next step is to turn the theory into a complete computer model and find ways to find signs of this slow, universe spin.”
Survey results It will be displayed in Monthly Notices from the Royal Astronomical Society.
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Balázs Endre Szigeti et al. 2025. Can rotation solve the Hubble puzzle? mnras 538(4): 3038-3041; doi: 10.1093/mnras/staf446
Source: www.sci.news
