At Horizons EU we are told, “New efforts to figure out just how fast the universe has expanded since the Big Bang, a speed known as the Hubble constant, could upend current theories of physics , according to some scientists.
If current theories were upended, who would know. Consider these stories from this month alone:
Discover: Even the best dark matter theories “are crumbling”
Is there a crisis in the physics of our time?
The cat is back: Is quantum theory dead, alive, AND contradicting itself?
“Perhaps physics has slipped into a post-empirical era…”
That’s a lot of fundamental uncertainty, as opposed to the endless quibbles of any scholarly discipline.
Ultimately, more accurate measurements would establish the correct value of the Hubble constant – or reveal if it has fluctuated over time.
‘We can check how the expansion of the universe evolved. We know that at least two times the expansion accelerated,’ Prof. Pietrzyński said. He was referring to the Big Bang as well as the Nobel-Prize-winning finding that the universe is currently in a phase of accelerated expansion, which is theorised to be caused by a mysterious force called dark energy. Ethan Bilby, “Refining intergalactic measurements could alter our whole understanding of physics” at Horizons EU
Hmmm.We’ve been told that there was something odd about that Nobel-winning expansion find that fueled the search for dark energy.
Doubtless, it’s a good thing they are starting with something basic: How fast did the universe really expand?
See also: Cosmic inflation theory loses hangups about the scientific method