In the case of the distribution of the fine-structure constant in the Universe, we could be dealing with such a lack of symmetry. A dipole is a system of two electric charges that distinguish a line.” Recently, however, there are more and more signals that we could be dealing with cosmic dipoles in the Universe. Webb said: "Most observations to date show that the Universe is expanding and that expansion is taking place equally in all points and in all directions, like an inflatable balloon on which the letters stretch equally regardless of where they are. And this means that the Cosmos is not as symmetrical as previously thought. Their research also confirms that changes in these laws of physics are not uniform in the universe. That the laws of physics were slightly different billions of light-years from here is not all that the authors of the paper in Science Advances have found. New knowledge about the laws of physics in other parts of the cosmos can therefore change the approach to how we search for objects and.
The value of the fine-structure constant translates into the shapes of stars, planetary systems have, and potentially also life. Credit: Nobu Tamura email: / CC BY-SA ( ) But who knows what sizes animals could reach in a place, where the laws of physics are different. With the laws of physics we have on Earth, it will be hard to break its size record. The Brachiosaurus was a record-large animal. A smaller fine-structure constant could therefore mean that larger organisms could be emerge.” However, if physical constants had a different value here, then the size limitations of organisms would be different too. Its record is hard to beat, because a larger animal would probably break under its own weight. The largest animal on Earth was the Brachiosaurus. Webb said: “From previous calculations, we know the limits of the size of animals on Earth. Meanwhile, a smaller constant - like in the part of the Universe from which the distant quasar originates - means that this matter may be less dense. If this constant had a greater value than now, particles would attract each other more strongly, and matter would be more 'concise'. The value of the constant determines, for example, how strongly particles attract. And the value that describes these interactions is the fine-structure constant. It determines the interactions of electric charges or chemical bonds. We humans (and everything we see around us) are held together by electromagnetic interaction. We found that a certain physical constant, the fine-structure constant (alpha), could have been smaller in that period than it is now.” Webb said: “We reached for the quasar formed a billion years after the Big Bang. This gave researchers insight into what the laws of physics looked like in a very young universe.
The international team of scientists led by John Webb analysed the light from the ULAS J1120+0641 quasar (the nucleus of an active galaxy) located 13 billion light years from us. By observing astronomical objects further and further away, we gain insight into the distant past and learn what the Universe looked like a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. But when we look at the brightest stars in the Orion constellation - Betelgeuse and Riegel - we are witnessing processes that took place 427 and 720 years ago respectively. When we look at the Sun, we see the light that gives information about what was happening on our nearest star 8 minutes ago. Light travels at finite speed and as a result, by observing distant objects, we can 'travel in time'. Dąbrowski from the University of Szczecin who took part in the international project told PAP: “In our research we wonder if the laws of physics here and now are the same as they were somewhere else long ago. By analysing a quasar signal from 13 billion years ago, they found that in addition, the magnitude of changes in these laws of physics in the Universe varies.