Tag Archives: cosmos

Total Solar Eclipse and the Picture of the Universe

Few are aware of the imminent cosmic phenomenon that sweeps all across USA in its splendor and rarity—the wonder of total solar eclipse. August 21st of this year will mark its occurrence after a void of almost 100 years, when it had painted the entire nation in the year 1918 (In the year 1979 it touched a tiny spot in the northern USA before veering off northbound). The whole effort of this year’s annual ASP (Astronomical Society of the Pacific) meeting was to spread out the word, engage as many science followers as possible into the majesty of this celestial display; urge them on into once in a lifetime kind of show.

There were stimulating talks disseminating the scientific background, and the enormous efforts that have been put in to popularize, educate, and incite on the appearance and experience of a total solar eclipse itself. And the ASP plans to upload all the talks on their website, in the hope to spur on a wider enthusiasm and interest.  Here is some useful set of information to help you prepare and indulge if you feel interested: NASA (1), Being in the Shadow (2), Great American Eclipse (3).

I being an ardent proponent of the physical sciences indeed tuned in, and pitched my own take on the subject of total solar eclipse, and how this phenomenon has played a vital role in revealing the basic principles of how the universe structures and continues. So here is my talk—The Eclipse that Changed the Picture of the Universe—at the meeting, in case you feel inspired.

Total solar eclipse takes place when the earth, moon and sun together strike a perfect alignment such that the moon situated in the middle fully blocks out the sun for a brief moment in space and time, leaving out the halo of corona—the usually invisible sun’s outer atmosphere—a brilliant ring that glows from behind. For that brief period we remain under the shadow of the moon while the radiating corona flags the sun’s only identity in the sky. It is the only instance in time when although the sun is present in our view of the sky, its intense glare remains occluded. Albert Einstein around the year 1915 realized that this relatively rare instance gives us an astonishing window into the nature of reality. How? In the year 1915 Einstein had proposed—by his theory of general relativity—that spacetime conforms to the force of gravity. Simply, gravity gives geometry to the universe. And if this is true then matter bends light.

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An event of a total solar eclipse extends us a perfect window into which we can verify such bending of the light. The ultra bending of the light reaches a detection level only when caused by a massive cosmic body, such as sun. The bending of the light by the sun is ascertained by measuring the shifts in the positions of the background stars—the deflections of stars as the sun passes through (Picture 1). Measured in arcseconds—an extraordinarily miniscule amount—this deflection, however, would be impossible to pin down due the intense glare of sun on a usual day. The event of a total solar eclipse thus gives us a perfect window for studying sun’s gravitational field without being bedazzled by the blinding glow.

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The total solar eclipse of May 29, 1919, became a legendary eclipse (Picture 2) that attested the bending of light by matter, theorized by Einstein. The discovery of spacetime curvation by the force of gravity led us to a bigger and finer picture of the universe: From the way the universe might have begun to the existence of black holes to theory of wormhole to the pulsation of gravitational waves, recently detected by LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory).

The new picture emerged, and Einstein celebrated, by the mechanics of the natural grandeur.

Neeti.

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Magnified Universe: Cosmic Landscape in Quantum Décor

Title and its Storyline

Why Magnified Universe?

The fabric of universe at a common level is conjectured as the structure that is directly perceived through the eye. But every scientist, and rational thinker, knows that there is more to it—more texture; more details; more interconnectivity, and thus better logical significance behind the palpable. (Just saw a philosophical take on that.) The universe we perceive as colossal and infinite might be just that—a perception.

In the boundaryless of quantum we not only see a comprehensive picture, but it is in the quantum description that we find rationality and an inter-connective significance in all that bubbles and evolves.

The infinitesimal of quantum and enormity of cosmos are the snapshots of reality based on how we decide to comprehend the nature of reality. Quantum and cosmic are both key elements, but they aren’t two different things. The fundamental forces, and their manifestations, are size irrespective. In discerning cosmic plane as enormous and vast we must account the spatial relativity set-up by our visual sense. We might be magnifying the universe. Thus the title: Magnified Universe.

Why Cosmic Landscape in Quantum Décor?

In the all-inclusive reality, quantum plane and cosmic arena aren’t two different things. Quantum principles play unhindered in the cosmic plane. Thus, the subtitle: Cosmic landscape in quantum décor.

Why the Banner?

Importantly though, I also want to say something on the banner of this blog: A human figure inserted in a convoluted rendering, with a cosmic deep field backdrop. Indeed, I quite like the image (I myself compiled it), and I think you would agree that it fits nicely with the theme of the subject, that is to comprehend an all-encompassing reality in the window of empirical observations and methodic concepts, and savor the mathematical and tangible beauty along the way. This has been a baseline banner in all my activities, in the virtual world (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) or on the temporal plane (public speeches, discussions). The main reason I wanted to bring this up, however, is the show of the convoluted rendering in the banner (encompassing the human figure). I appreciatively acknowledge A. Hanson of Indiana University, the creator of this elegant graphic, for letting me use it.

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In the mathematical world this rendering is known as Calabi-Yau manifold. And the reason I relish this mathematical object is because it can be seen as a testimony to the union between mathematics and physics, or the truth of mathematical physics. At a physical level, this mathematical object shows how the dimensions are sewn together in a continuum. There are endless resources on how Calabi-Yau manifold came to be, first in the landscape of pure mathematics, and then infiltrating the boundaries of physics in the scene where the picture of reality takes form.

Mathematical object

Calabi-Yau manifold Credit: A. Hanson

 
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The Gist

Over months, I have pulled up many different colors of witnessing the order of reality. Ways are endless really. And our personal attitudes do really count in the way we like to journey, or even see. Here, we have been taking routes of physical sciences, and we will continue to do so. To keep the focus of our sight and vision, it will help to leaf through the pitches I circulated, and breathe in the central argument behind each.

Here we go:

The Nature of Reality

Why this? And a little of Why me?

The Whole of it in One Single Sweep

Starting out on a journey toward seeing a full-length picture, in the methodic voice of physical sciences

Are We Able to Picture it?

Issue of blending fundamental principles with emergence of consciousness, and the question that ensues: The nature of self

The Mathematical Truth

The perfect glue in constructing an overarching picture of reality, and the underlying idea of mathematical truth

Continued in the next post…

Neeti.

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Universe Needing to Inflate

Universe Needing to Inflate

In the evolution of the universe there conceivably occurred an instance of prodigious expansion, so rapid that the universe’s once infinitely dense miniscule glob swiftly stretched—light years across in a fraction of a second. The incident is commonly referred to as inflation. As enigmatic as it may sound, the scenario of expeditious growth does have healthy outlooks to support of the way we envisage the universe based on scientific judgments.

Inflation explains why the universe we find ourselves in is flat; it explains away why the observable universe is constitutionally same whichever side we look, or is largely isotropic. First proposed by Alan Guth, the stunt of inflation further goes on to explain the unification of the two grand principles, general relativity and quantum mechanics. That is, the inflation exposes a way to realize that a gravitational wave is just a mere transfiguration of quantum fluctuation. That is why the conclusive detection of gravitational wave by BICEP2 (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2) was a much celebrated event, especially for scientific community, because it was a firsthand glimpse into the universe undergone inflation. Although several reports following the initial discovery wavered between optimistic and skeptical standpoints on having identified gravitational waves—we very likely saw it; no we didn’t; we probably did; no probably not—over all the observations do seem to provide a rational evidence for the beat of gravitational waves from the dawning cosmos, supporting the occurrence of inflation.

Here is the entertaining part. Methodical measurements suggest that this abrupt unfurling of the cosmos was rapider that the speed of the light itself. Truly intriguing: because the speed of light is the maximum attainable speed as per the well-credited Einstein’s special relativity. As delightful as it is to relish, when comes to explaining such an oddity we are struck with the quandary of seeing the space-time to have momentarily broken the rule by which it itself flows. From special relativity we know that the time dilates to accommodate speed, but in an instance of a speed surpassing the light how do we see the time as a part of space, in the usual texture of space-time?

In justifying a speed faster than that of light, where time still permeates the texture, we probably have just one way of seeing the picture—An order where the space-time doesn’t flow but manifests as discrete units. This is not something entirely new I am referring to here. It is suggested in Einstein’s special relativity that the speed of light is constant for all observers, and this basically means that two objects approaching with different speeds would both be seen at once—not the one with the higher velocity first. Thus, when it comes to the light-speed the space-time arena manifests. For velocities within the light-speed the time shifts—the higher the speed the lower the ticking of the time. In a possible event of surpassing light-speed the flow halts, and the manifestation transpires. In all the scenarios though, the time is indeed valued to be inextricably blended with the space.

Besides figuring out the dilemma of how exactly the inflation came about, the idea of inflation itself is truly insightful, and as stated above it does iron out two of the deepest mysteries of the cosmic plane: one that the universe is flat on all sides we see. But the cosmic structure appearing flat doesn’t necessarily mean it is flat. The geometrical appearance is a matter of perception. Encountering an object is an advent of electromagnetic radiation from that object impinging the eye, which doesn’t impart much information on how the space itself is structured. We can surely assign closeness and farness to an object but cannot refer with certainty whether the space-time is flat or infinitely curved, or even permanently shapeless.

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The cosmic isotropy that is supported by inflation, on the other hand, signifies the continuum of a single overarching tapestry from the initiation, billions of years ago, to our vision.

The full-length reality entails that the cosmic plane and quantum décor, Newtonian mechanics, Einstein relativities and particle fields all harmonize to announce a single continuum. And the   inflation once again gives us a way to see the metamorphosis of the minute quantum fluctuation to a gigantic gravitational wave—where seeing the unification of quantum and cosmic planes becomes conceivable.

But in the above schematic there is a slight glitch, which is to justify the continuum of the palpating “multiverse” that we make out from purely quantum studies. To overcome this perplexity it is proposed that different regions of the universe experienced their own separate growth (or inflation)—what we glance at is just one of those regions.

Seeing the cosmic and quantum structures as one field involves the principles of Einstein’s relativities, quantum field and how we perceive the universe directly, but I will end this post here, and leave the matter for the coming ones.

I will be back shortly.

Neeti

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