Astrophysicists believe they may have, for the first time, detected elusive hypothetical cosmic strings, also referred to as cracks in the Universe. These strings emerged in the first moments following the Big Bang during the period of cosmic inflation, which is the initial phase of the universe's expansion. The study has been published in the Bulletin de la Societe Royale des Sciences de Liege, as reported by IFLScience.
Some scientists argue that topological defects or cracks, known as cosmic strings, formed in spacetime within the first second after the Big Bang. This concept was first proposed in the 1970s. According to the prevailing theory, cosmic strings appeared when one of the fundamental forces of the universe split into the four known forces today: electromagnetic, gravitational, weak, and strong interactions. Until now, no one has found cosmic strings, but the authors of the new study believe they may have succeeded.
C osmic strings are called cracks in the Universe because it is thought that the fabric of spacetime has "cracked," leading to defects with mass, represented as long, thin lines, narrower than a proton. Theoretically, cosmic strings could stretch across the entire Universe.
It is believed that when cosmic strings intersect, they can be detected due to the gravitational waves emitted from the points of intersection. It is also suggested that cosmic strings could be found in the relic radiation, which is the residual light from the Big Bang that still exists today.
The authors of the study think that while examining a pair of suspicious galaxies named SDSSJ110429.61+233150.3, they may have found the first evidence of cosmic strings.
If cosmic strings exist, they have mass and could act as gravitational lenses. The process of gravitational lensing helps astronomers see the light from very distant objects through other massive objects, which distort and amplify the light from a distant radiation source. Scientists believe they have observed such gravitational lensing caused by cosmic strings.
Astrophysicists think that the pair of galaxies being studied is actually one galaxy that appears as two due to gravitational lensing. However, there is no massive object between us and this galaxy to act as a gravitational lens, suggesting that a cosmic string is responsible. Additionally, researchers found that the light spectra of the two galaxies match, indicating they are the same object.
On the other hand, astrophysicists note that the aforementioned astronomical objects could be two galaxies that formed close together and share similar characteristics. They also do not rule out the possibility of an unusual massive gravitational lens that distorted the light of one galaxy. Therefore, scientists are not 100% certain that they have discovered a cosmic string.
Astrophysicists will continue their research to find solid evidence that they have, for the first time, detected a crack in the Universe or to disprove this hypothesis.