Research of Galaxies Supports Einstein's General Theory of Relativity
2024-12-02
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1An international group of scientists has been studying how the structure of the universe has grown over the past 11 billion years.
2These researchers recently announced findings about how gravity behaves at a very large scale.
3What they found supports a prediction physicist Albert Einstein made in his 1915 theory of general relativity.
4The findings are part of a years-long study of the history of the universe that has focused on dark energy.
5Dark energy is an invisible and mysterious force that is accelerating, or speeding up, the ongoing expansion of the universe.
6The study's researchers used a year of observations by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.
7Gravity is one of the universe's fundamental forces.
8Einstein's theory linked space, time and gravity.
9The theory holds that large amounts of mass and energy curve the structure of space-time, influencing the motion of whatever passes nearby.
10Dragan Huterer of the University of Michigan was co-leader of the working group that examined the data from DESI.
11Huterer said: "Einstein's theory of general relativity describes the motion of massive objects in a gravitational field that they create. It is one of the most successful physical theories that we have."
12But the announcement in 1998 that the universe's expansion was speeding up raised doubts about Einstein's model.
13"The discovery of the accelerating universe...led to suggestions that maybe general relativity needs to be modified," Huterer said.
14The new DESI findings revealed gravity is behaving as Einstein predicted that it would.
15Scientists say the Big Bang event 13.8 billion years ago began the universe, which has been expanding ever since.
16They say experiments show the expansion was actually accelerating and dark energy is a possible cause.
17The new DESI findings focused on the growth of what is called the cosmic structure.
18It dates to when the universe was about 20 percent of its current age.
19This cosmic structure has a direct connection to the large-scale organization of matter.
20Galaxies, galaxy clusters and even larger galaxy superclusters form a cosmic web or connected networks with large areas of space existing in between.
21This structure results from the gravitational pull of matter throughout the universe.
22The new study was based on DESI observations of almost 6 million galaxies and their centers, dating back 11 billion years.
23The DESI scientists in April released the largest three-dimensional map of the cosmos.
24They announced findings suggesting that dark energy may not be an unchangeable force.
25Instead, it might change over time.
26Those findings focused on a specific behavior of galaxy clusters.
27The new research expanded what is known about that behavior.
28Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki of the University of Texas at Dallas was a co-leader of the working group.
29He said, "Our DESI data shows that it is in agreement with Einstein's theory of gravity but still favors a dynamical dark energy - and finding these simultaneously is new."
30The universe includes ordinary matter: stars, planets, gas, dust.
31It also contains dark matter. Dark matter is invisible material that might make up about 27 percent of the cosmos.
32In addition to that, scientists also believe there is dark energy which might make up 68 percent of the cosmos.
33"Dark energy is responsible for the accelerated expansion of the universe.
34The physical nature of dark energy is at present unknown," Huterer said.
35The new findings appear to support the current "standard model" of cosmology that includes the theory of general relativity.
36The DESI working group involves more than 900 researchers from more than 70 organizations worldwide.
37It is overseen by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
38The new research was published in the arXiv online database before undergoing the process of peer review.
39I'm John Russell.
1An international group of scientists has been studying how the structure of the universe has grown over the past 11 billion years. 2These researchers recently announced findings about how gravity behaves at a very large scale. What they found supports a prediction physicist Albert Einstein made in his 1915 theory of general relativity. 3Dark energy and gravity 4The findings are part of a years-long study of the history of the universe that has focused on dark energy. Dark energy is an invisible and mysterious force that is accelerating, or speeding up, the ongoing expansion of the universe. 5The study's researchers used a year of observations by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. 6Gravity is one of the universe's fundamental forces. Einstein's theory linked space, time and gravity. The theory holds that large amounts of mass and energy curve the structure of space-time, influencing the motion of whatever passes nearby. 7Dragan Huterer of the University of Michigan was co-leader of the working group that examined the data from DESI. 8Huterer said: "Einstein's theory of general relativity describes the motion of massive objects in a gravitational field that they create. It is one of the most successful physical theories that we have." 9But the announcement in 1998 that the universe's expansion was speeding up raised doubts about Einstein's model. 10"The discovery of the accelerating universe...led to suggestions that maybe general relativity needs to be modified," Huterer said. 11The new DESI findings revealed gravity is behaving as Einstein predicted that it would. 12Scientists say the Big Bang event 13.8 billion years ago began the universe, which has been expanding ever since. They say experiments show the expansion was actually accelerating and dark energy is a possible cause. 13The new DESI findings focused on the growth of what is called the cosmic structure. It dates to when the universe was about 20 percent of its current age. 14This cosmic structure has a direct connection to the large-scale organization of matter. Galaxies, galaxy clusters and even larger galaxy superclusters form a cosmic web or connected networks with large areas of space existing in between. 15This structure results from the gravitational pull of matter throughout the universe. 16The new study was based on DESI observations of almost 6 million galaxies and their centers, dating back 11 billion years. 17The DESI scientists in April released the largest three-dimensional map of the cosmos. They announced findings suggesting that dark energy may not be an unchangeable force. Instead, it might change over time. Those findings focused on a specific behavior of galaxy clusters. The new research expanded what is known about that behavior. 18Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki of the University of Texas at Dallas was a co-leader of the working group. He said, "Our DESI data shows that it is in agreement with Einstein's theory of gravity but still favors a dynamical dark energy - and finding these simultaneously is new." 19The universe includes ordinary matter: stars, planets, gas, dust. It also contains dark matter. Dark matter is invisible material that might make up about 27 percent of the cosmos. In addition to that, scientists also believe there is dark energy which might make up 68 percent of the cosmos. 20"Dark energy is responsible for the accelerated expansion of the universe. The physical nature of dark energy is at present unknown," Huterer said. 21The new findings appear to support the current "standard model" of cosmology that includes the theory of general relativity. 22The DESI working group involves more than 900 researchers from more than 70 organizations worldwide. It is overseen by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The new research was published in the arXiv online database before undergoing the process of peer review. 23I'm John Russell. 24Will Dunham reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 25_________________________________________________ 26Words in This Story 27focus - v. to concentrate attention or effort 28fundamental -adj. ideas that form the basis of other ideas or theories 29curve -n. a shape that is similar to a circle or a rounded line 30massive - adj. forming or consisting of a large mass; very large 31dynamical - adj. of or relating to physical force or energy 32simultaneously - adv. existing or happening at the same time 33peer review - n. a process for publishing scholarly research in which academic people with similar positions and jobs as the writers' offer criticism of a research paper before it is officially published in a scholarly journal