IN BRIEF

Researchers from the Case Western Reserve University, Kenyon College in Ohio, the Institute of Gravitation in Portsmouth University, and the University of Catania in Italy have joined forces to accomplish a momentous task: to build the first model of the universe based on all of the conditions stated by Einstein's full theory of relativity.

A MOMENTOUS TASK

Researchers from the Case Western Reserve University, Kenyon College in Ohio, the Institute of Gravitation of Portsmouth University, and the University of Catania in Italy all come together for one ultimate goal: to create the most precise and detailed representation of the cosmos using all of the equations Einstein ever postulated about the universe.

The partnership will be building the model of the universe using two computer codes developed by a collaborative team from the Case Western Reserve University and Kenyon College. Codenamed “Cosmograph,” the codes are embedded in a mathematical tool hopes to simulate a model of the universe that could provide insights on how gravity affects all objects in the universe.

The new codes are reportedly the first to collate the entirety of the general theory of relativityand would help explain why objects in the universe are where they are—specifically trying to understand how the distribution of matter throughout the universe came to be.

“No one has modeled the full complexity of the problem before,” says Professor Glenn Starkman, a member of the American team of researchers. “These papers are an important step forward, using the full machinery of general relativity to model the universe, without unwarranted assumptions of symmetry or smoothness. The universe doesn’t make these assumptions, neither should we.” 

SUPERCOMPUTERS PLUS SPACE EXPLORATION

Einstein’s theory has been a milestone in physics and is so complex that even physicists are struggling to fully understand it to this day—more than 100 years after it was conceptualized.

Perhaps, the dawn of supercomputers would better translate these theories than mortals could. And with the help of developing telescopes as well as space missions on galaxy surveys, fully understanding the mechanisms that govern our universe may just be close to becoming a reality.

“In the end, as always in physics, it will be the interplay between theory and observations that will further our understanding of the universe,” said Dr. Marco Bruni of the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, Portsmouth University.