Was Einstein Wrong?
We are in the throws of unprecedented advances in AI technology that look set to disrupt multiple industries and enable us to do incredible things like write your wedding vows in 30 seconds with a ChatGPT plugin. But despite our technical prowess, there still exists a bundle of questions to which we will likely never know the answer, like why are Angry Birds so angry? Another long perplexing question has centred around the force driving the ever-accelerating universe expansion.
For years, the cosmological constant, a concept introduced by Einstein, has been the leading explanation for the universe’s expansion. The concept suggests that dark energy, a mysterious force, is uniformly spread throughout space, pushing galaxies apart. However, this theory has its challenges, especially when faced with recent astronomical observations.
Enter the unparticles. Research conducted by Ido Ben-Dayan and Utkarsh Kumar from Ariel University proposes that these enigmatic entities could be the real drivers behind the universe’s growth.
“The idea of unparticles was introduced by [theoretical physicist Howard] Georgi over a decade says Ben-Dayan, “In fundamental physics, we usually discuss fields, like the electric field, where particles are excitations of that field. In the electric field case, these are the photons,” or packets of light. Usually, Ben-Dayan adds, particles are excitations with a well-defined mass and momentum.
However, “unparticles are the result of a set of fields that their excitations do not have a well-defined momentum and mass. Thus, at the macroscopic level, they behave as a fluid. A special outcome of this property is that their equation of state, describing the ratio between the pressure they exert and their energy density, depends on temperature.”
By applying the unparticle theory to observed data, the duo found that it offers a more cohesive explanation, aligning better with the discrepancies observed in measurements like the Hubble constant and the S8 parameter, which gauge the universe’s expansion rate and the growth of cosmic structures.
The unparticle theory is still in its infancy, with empirical evidence yet to solidify its place in the pantheon of physics. However, the researchers are optimistic. With the rapid advancement of astronomical technology and methods, the next decade could bring about the proof needed to either crown unparticles as a fundamental aspect of our universe or send them back to the drawing board.
Moreover, the team plans to dive deeper into the unparticle conundrum, exploring potential interactions with known particles. This could open new doors in particle physics, possibly revealing unparticle effects in existing experiments, such as those conducted in particle accelerators.