The Big Bang is a massive cosmic event attributed to the universe's creation. In just one-hundredth of a second after the explosion, the young universe experienced a phase change within its quantum field, similar to how water forms bubbles when boiling. In this chaos, some astronomers theorized the formation of cracks in the universe, a hypothetical topological defect known as cosmic strings.
What is Cosmic String?
Cosmic strings refer to hypothetical one-dimensional topological defects that may have formed during a symmetry-breaking phase transition of the early universe. These cracks are tears and rips in space-time, believed to remain even today.
The cosmic strings stretch from one end of the observable universe to the other. As the universe expands, the strings grow along with it. This is because the cosmic strings are simply a part of the underlying fabric of space.
The conditions around the cosmic strings are very strange. They do not only bend space and time around themselves, but they also wiggle a lot. In some cases, two or more strings will find each other, wiggle a bit, and then intersect. It is these wiggles that make cosmic strings potentially detectable.
The theory behind the existence of cosmic strings was first conceptualized in the 1970s. For several decades, these one-dimensional wrinkles have eluded scientists, hoping the evidence would appear in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In the early 2000s, the hypothesis was revived in the context of the String Theory.
Search for the Cosmic Crack
Last month, experts from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics announced the presence of several potential cosmic string candidates. One of them possibly lies in the location area of the CS candidate (CSc-1).
The investigation focused on the brightest objects in that field to make their case: a galactic pair called SDSSJ110429.61+233150.3. The research team assumes that this pair could be just one galaxy that appears to be two because of gravitational lensing, a phenomenon where the gravitational fields distort light around objects in space. Massive galaxy clusters between Earth and other observable universe parts can cause gravitational lensing.
The correlation between the two components' spectra indicates the pair's possible gravitational lensing nature. The simulations developed by the researchers of observational data in the CSc-1 field suggest that the cosmic string's complex geometry can explain many pairs. The simulations of the SDSSJ110429 galaxy pair have also demonstrated that the observed angle between the components of the pair can be defined if the cosmic string is strongly inclined, and possibly bent in the image plane.
The researchers also aim for a deeper investigation of CSc-1 using a 4-meter class telescope like the Devasthal Optical Telescope in Nainital, India. Although the study does not provide hard proof of the existence of cosmic strings, its findings may be a significant step in a promising direction toward this cosmic search.
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