The void: Imprint of another universe?

[cristo]

I was reading the linked article (from newscientist) in another thread on this forum, and saw the cover story to this month's NS; the article is http://space.newscientist.com/article/mg19626311.400;jsessionid=CPACOCKNHFIH .

What could cause such a gaping hole? One team of physicists has a breathtaking explanation: "It is the unmistakable imprint of another universe beyond the edge of our own," says Laura Mersini-Houghton of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

So, what does anyone else think? Clearly it's a very contraversial claim, and I can't find any recent papers of hers (Mersini-Houghton) on the arxiv that discuss this. I was under the impression that the standard model does allow for the void suggested by the WMAP cold spot?

 

[Chronos]

Controversial is a good description. I do not find such a void to be particularly significant statistically. Newscientist is a bleeding edge publication, not that it diminishes the discussion, but does put it into perspective. Show the math.

 

[cristo]

Newscientist is a bleeding edge publication, not that it diminishes the discussion, but does put it into perspective.

I agree.

Show the math.

I'd love to, but as I said I can't find any paper that this is referring to. Perhaps others will be able to assist.

 

[cesiumfrog]

Do you have a reference for that Chris?

 

[notknowing]

I was reading the linked article (from newscientist) in another thread on this forum, and saw the cover story to this month's NS; the article is http://space.newscientist.com/article/mg19626311.400;jsessionid=CPACOCKNHFIH .



So, what does anyone else think? Clearly it's a very contraversial claim, and I can't find any recent papers of hers (Mersini-Houghton) on the arxiv that discuss this. I was under the impression that the standard model does allow for the void suggested by the WMAP cold spot?

I think it is due to a region of "antigravity". I have a theory about that (hopefully to be published next year).

Rudi Van Nieuwenhove

 

[Garth]

Controversial is a good description. I do not find such a void to be particularly significant statistically. Newscientist is a bleeding edge publication, not that it diminishes the discussion, but does put it into perspective. Show the math.

Extragalactic Radio Sources and the WMAP Cold Spot

To create the magnitude and angular size of the WMAP cold spot requires a ~140 Mpc radius completely empty void at z<=1 along this line of sight. This is far outside the current expectations of the concordance cosmology, and adds to the anomalies seen in the CMB.

Garth

 

[Chronos]

Thanks for the link, Garth! It is food for thought. I don't like the math, but I am no stranger to bad guesses.

 

[Chronos]

I look forward to your paper, Rudi.

 

[George Jones]

Do you have a reference for that Chris?

The seventh post in http://cosmocoffee.info/viewtopic.php?p=2893" at CosmoCoffee, which gives links to

http://www.arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0611223
http://www.arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0612142

 

[Garth]

The idea that gravitation is the result of a distortion of the quantum vacuum by the presence of a mass is a very interesting hypothesis Rudi, have you submitted the paper to a peer reviewed journal?

To advocate a non-relativistic theory of gravitation you need to explain all the observations that GR predicts so well and further tests such as the Gravity Probe B satellite experiment that is being evaluated at this moment.

Garth

 

[notknowing]

The idea that gravitation is the result of a distortion of the quantum vacuum by the presence of a mass is a very interesting hypothesis Rudi, have you submitted the paper to a peer reviewed journal?

To advocate a non-relativistic theory of gravitation you need to explain all the observations that GR predicts so well and further tests such as the Gravity Probe B satellite experiment that is being evaluated at this moment.

Garth

The idea that gravitation is the result of a distortion of the quantum vacuum by the presence of a mass was published in a peer reviewed journal (R. Van Nieuwenhove, Quantum Gravity : a Hypothesis, Europhysics Letters, 17 (1), pp. 1-4 (1992)).
Indeed, at this stage the theory is non-relativistic and it therefore can not predict all the effects which GR predicts. The MOND theory also started as a non-relativistic theory (before it was upgraded to the ugly relativistic TeVeS theory), so I will also need a lot of time before coming up with a relativistic theory.
One can say that GR predicts everything so well, but if it turns out that dark matter does not exist (of which I am convinced), then one could say that it is significantly wrong in describing galaxy rotation curves. And if it is wrong at this scale, it is surely very wrong on a cosmological scale.


Rudi Van Nieuwenhove

 

[Garth]

As I am likewise working on an alternative theory I appreciate the problem!

I wish you well!



Garth