A team of scientists based in the Antarctica South Pole Telescope has recently discovered swirling patterns of light that may lead to new explanations about the state of the early universe.
The swirling patterns were found in cosmic microwave background radiation referred to as B-mode polarizations. According to scientists involved in the project, these patterns may be remnants of the Big Bang and may lead to valuable clues that can help scientists fill the gaps in information about the early universe.
The findings were first published by scientists in a report on the American Physical Society website. "The detection of B-mode polarization by South Pole Telescope is a major milestone, a technical achievement that indicates exciting physics to come," said John Carlstrom. Carlstrom is the deputy director at the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics as well as S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago.
The discovery of these patterns has caused an uproar in the international physics community and many scientists are keeping an eye out for further developments. The mystery of the early universe moments after the Big Bang is one of the biggest scientific problems today.
"The detection of a primordial B-mode polarization signal in the microwave background would amount to finding the first tremors of the Big Bang," added postdoctoral scientist at McGill University, Duncan Hanson.
The cosmic microwave background can be found everywhere in the universe. This background radiation is composed of particles of light that is said to come from the Big Bang itself. The cosmic microwave background is often observed in space at a temperature of -270 degrees. Scientists monitor small fluctuations in temperature levels for analysis. While E-mode patterns of polarization are fairly easy to track, tracking B-mode polarization is more challenging due to the faint nature of this type of polarization.
While scientists are still busy studying the new findings, no details have been currently uncovered about how exactly these new discoveries will affect our current understanding of the Big Bang and the early universe. It may take years of further study and analysis before any conclusion can be drawn.
