Einstein’s Theory Further Supported: Quasar “Timekeepers” Reveal Universe’s Speed Was Quintupled Shortly After the Big Bang

A groundbreaking research utilized quasars as celestial timekeepers to investigate the early universe’s remarkably slowed pace, bolstering Einstein’s theory of general relativity further. Through a detailed examination of data collected from approximately 200 quasars—hyperactive supermassive black holes situated at the cores of initial galaxies—researchers discovered that time seemed to progress five times slower when the universe was slightly beyond its first billion years.

Data gathered from around 200 quasars validates Einstein’s prediction concerning the time dilation in the cosmos.

In a first, scientists have detected the early universe functioning at a significantly reduced pace, solving one of the enigmas of Einstein’s model of an expanding universe.

According to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, our observations of the far and thus older universe should appear much slower compared to the present. Nevertheless, gazing back that far in time has been challenging. Quasars now serve as ‘timekeepers’, enabling scientists to resolve this mystery.

“When we look back to a period when the universe was slightly older than a billion years, we observe time moving at a pace five times slower,” stated the study’s lead author, Professor Geraint Lewis from the School of Physics and Sydney Institute for Astronomy at the University of Sydney.

“If you were present in this young universe, a second would feel like a second. But viewed from our perspective, over 12 billion years in the future, that early era seems to extend,” he added.

Nature Astronomy published the study on July 3.

Professor Lewis and his associate, Dr. Brendon Brewer from the University of Auckland, used data observed from approximately 200 quasars to scrutinize this time dilation.

“Einstein has shown us that space and time are interconnected, and since the Big Bang’s inception, the universe has been expanding,” Professor Lewis commented.

“This spatial expansion implies that our perceptions of the early universe should seem significantly slower than time’s current pace.

“In this paper, we have substantiated that fact back to about a billion years after the Big Bang.”

In the past, astronomers have validated this slow-motion universe back to about half the universe’s age using supernovae—massive exploding stars—as ‘standard timekeepers’. But while supernovae are extraordinarily bright, they are tough to spot at the tremendous distances required to gaze into the early universe.

The observation of quasars has now pushed this time horizon back to merely a tenth of the universe’s age, establishing that the universe appears to accelerate with age.

Professor Lewis explained: “Supernovae resemble a single burst of light, simplifying their study, while quasars are more intricate, akin to a continuous firework display.

“What we’ve accomplished is to decipher this firework display, demonstrating that quasars can also serve as standard time indicators for the early universe.”

Professor Lewis collaborated with astro-statistician Dr. Brewer to inspect the specifics of 190 quasars observed over two decades. By integrating observations taken at distinct colors (or wavelengths)—green light, red light, and into the infrared—they standardized the ‘ticking’ of each quasar. Applying Bayesian analysis, they detected the imprint of the universe’s expansion on each quasar’s ticking.

“With this precise data, we could map the tick of the quasar timekeepers, revealing the impact of expanding space,” Professor Lewis expressed.

These findings strengthen Einstein’s concept of an expanding universe but contrast earlier studies that were unable to discern the time dilation of distant quasars.

“These earlier studies led to doubts about whether quasars are genuinely cosmological objects or if the concept of expanding space is accurate,” Professor Lewis said.

“However, with this new data and analysis, we’ve discovered the elusive tick of the quasars, and they behave precisely as Einstein’s relativity anticipates,” he concluded.

Reference: “Detection of the cosmological time dilation of high-redshift quasars” by Geraint F. Lewis and Brendon J. Brewer, 3 July 2023, Nature Astronomy.
DOI: 10.1038/s41550-023-02029-2

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More about Einstein’s General Relativity Validation

• Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity
• The Concept of Quasars
• The Big Bang and the Expansion of the Universe
• An Introduction to Time Dilation
• Paper: Detection of the cosmological time dilation of high-redshift quasars