A 100 after the publication of Einstein ’s general theory of relativity — and just in time for the great man ’s birthday — evidence has emerged to support his theory , while constraining a more late file name extension .
One of the central pillar of Einstein ’s employment is that light travels at the same speed , disregarding of its energy . We recognize that this is not true inmedia such as glass , but in a vacuum Einstein ’s work involve radio wave , gamma rays and everything in between to keep pace .
While general Einstein’s theory of relativity is see as one of the peak achievements of the human intellect , it persist subject to meaning challenge . Although Einstein ’s work keep successfully call the behavior ofevery cosmic laboratory we can find , dubiety stay because it isincompatible with quantum mechanics . At least one of them ask some alteration if we are to fully understand the existence .
So when Professor Tsvi Piran of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem screen the arrival times of photon from agamma - ray burst(GRB ) seven billion lightheaded - years aside , he did n’t know what he would find . harmonize to one attempt to harmonise the achiever of general relativity and quantum possibility on very different scale , spacetimehas a“foamy ” structurerather than being uninterrupted . The hypothesized bubbles are billions of time too little to take note ( of the order 10 - 35 m ) , but it has been intimate that they would affect the transmittance of light in a much more insidious version of what occurs in Methedrine or water .
However , inNature Physics , Piran and his co - writer report the opposite . Along with the Vasco da Gamma ray that give the outburst its name , the burst emitted lower vim photons . Under the foamy model , the highest Energy Department da Gamma rays would be expected to be most affected by the general foam , and therefore get in the latest . We do n’t notice this with continuously shining objects since the low-pitched energy photons secrete a piffling later arrive at the same time as the high vim eq that preceded them away from the light reference .
However , for something sudden like a GRB , Piran thought the difference might be detectable . If such a departure did occur , however , it was too small to be mensurate . Any cosmic fizz then must be modest than the sensitivity of Piran ’s instruments , leave off some of the big size predicted by theoretical models .
It ’s not the first time GRBs have been used to test the frothing possibility of spacetime , but a premature campaign relied onjust three photons , moderately less than a statistically significant sample . A study of Vasco da Gamma rays from a pitch-black mess 500 million tripping - years away found afour - min time lag for high energy photons , but even the discipline ’s writer accept other explanations were potential .
“ When we began our psychoanalysis , we did n’t look to obtain such a accurate mensuration , " say Piran . " This raw terminus ad quem is at the degree gestate from quantum gravity theories and can organize us how to combine quantum hypothesis and theory of relativity . "
