New research puts age of the Universe at 26.7 billion years

[pinball1970]

TL;DR Summary

"Our newly-devised model stretches the galaxy formation time by a several billion years, making the universe 26.7 billion years old, and not 13.7 as previously estimated," says author Rajendra Gupta, adjunct professor of physics in the Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa.

The article https://phys.org/news/2023-07-age-u...d be twice,"impossible early galaxy problem."

The paper

https://academic.oup.com/mnras/adva...2/7221343?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false

From the abstract.

"We present a model with covarying coupling constants (CCC), starting from the modified FLRW metric and resulting Einstein and Friedmann equations, and a CCC + TL hybrid model. They fit the Pantheon + data admirably, and the CCC + TL model is compliant with the JWST observations. It stretches the age of the universe to 26.7 Gyr with 5.8 Gyr at z=10�=10 and 3.5 Gyr at z=20�=20⁠, giving enough time to form massive galaxies. It thus resolves the ‘impossible early galaxy’ problem without requiring the existence of primordial black hole seeds or modified power spectrum, rapid formation of massive population III stars, and super Eddington accretion rates. One could infer the CCC model as an extension of the ΛΛCDM model with a dynamic cosmological constant."

The article mentions Zwicky's tired light theory which I thought was debunked.

These sound like large claims to say the least, it would be appreciated to get a view from the pf cosmology guys.

 

[hutchphd]

I am not a cosmology guy. But I do know that, in any model of anything, if you allow your constants to vary you can get a better fit. These seems only mildly interesting. I look forward to someone who actually knows issuing forth.

 

[Nik_2213]

Um, the last time this notion hypothesis surfaced, after finding field-stars apparently much older than ~15 BY, turned out to be due to binary-mergers which sorta-rejuvenated the combination rather than eg triggering a super-nova...

Cousin to 'Blue Stragglers' ??

Whatever, IMHO, there's still enough wriggle-room error bars to stick with the current age until better data emerges...

 

[Madeleine Birchfield]

This is about a cosmological model developed by Rajendra Gupta, which is a hybrid model of tired light with the big bang. The tired light in this model is simply an addition to the big bang in an attempt to extend the time it takes for light to travel from distant objects to Earth; it isn't acting as a replacement for the big bang.

When cosmologists usually talk about the age of the universe, they are usually talking about something that is hugely dependent upon the cosmological model, since the age of the universe is calculated from the model, not measured. What is usually measured is the cosmological redshift of an object. For example, different early dark energy models developed to resolve the Hubble tension have the age of the universe anywhere between 12 and 15 billion years. The previous standard model of cosmology without dark energy, SCDM, had the age of the universe between 9 and 12 billion years. So I'm not surprised that Gupta's cosmological model would also have a different answer for the age of the universe compared to Lambda CDM.

 

[Hornbein]

I am not a cosmology guy. But I do know that, in any model of anything, if you allow your constants to vary you can get a better fit. These seems only mildly interesting. I look forward to someone who actually knows issuing forth.

Dyson, full both of knowledge and the chutzpah of youth, did from Cornell go forth unto Fermi. In the great city of Chicago he did lay at the feet of Fermi a theory of the nucleus, made full through the labors of underpaid PhD candidates. The gaze of Fermi was cast upon these offerings. Fermi spake thusly. "You know Johnny von Neumann always used to say, with four free parameters I can fit an elephant, with five I can wiggle his trunk." Dyson, heeding the great learning of Johnny, was sore dismayed. Of this heresy he did repent. Dyson went forth to sin no more. The graduate students were released of their bondage.

The Visit According To Dyson

 

[ohwilleke]

Covarying coupling constants are a dubious proposition. Every observation calculated to determine if coupling constants have varied over time has confirmed that they do not to limits of experimental accuracy. There are less extreme ways to accommodate the "impossible early galaxy problem" than this paper.

 

[hutchphd]

The Visit According To Dyson

That is a wonderful interview....thank you.