Spacetime lacks the texture that some theories predict
JUN 14, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026102
BBC : An analysis of the fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background has failed to find evidence of a certain kind of texture in the fabric of spacetime. Stephen Feeney of University College London and his colleagues developed a statistical algorithm that combed through data gathered by NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. If certain theories of the universe’s infancy are correct, the algorithm should have found topological defects, akin to dislocations in crystals, that arose during inflation, the phase of rapid expansion that followed the Big Bang. The analysis by Feeney and his collaborators doesn’t completely rule out textures. There’s a 5% chance they could be in the data. The question should be resolved this summer after data from the European Space Agency’s Planck spacecraft are released.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
