The Dangers of the Modified Gravity Community

6min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Theory of modified Newtonian dynamics has been incredibly predictive on a huge range of scales ranging from the entire universe down to tiny galaxies. But there are many observations that modify gravity really struggles with, as well as some observations that it makes some sense of. There are many feedback relationships where a galaxy if it has too many stars, for example, then it's going to start having lots of supernovae That means it's not going to form as many stars in the future. So I think the answer lies in those feedback relationships but it would be fair to say that they're not fully understood at this point in time.

It's somewhat amazing that cosmology, the study of the universe as a whole, can make any progress at all. But it has, especially so in recent decades. Partly that's because nature has been kind to us in some ways: the universe is quite a simple place on large scales and at early times. Another reason is a leap forward in the data we have collected, and in the growing use of a powerful tool: computer simulations. I talk with cosmologist Andrew Pontzen on what we know about the universe, and how simulations have helped us figure it out. We also touch on hot topics in cosmology (early galaxies discovered by JWST) as well as philosophical issues (are simulations data or theory?).

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/06/19/240-andrew-pontz…and-the-universe/

Andrew Pontzen received his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Cambridge. He is currently Professor of Cosmology at University College London. In addition to his research in cosmology, he frequently writes popular articles and appears in science documentaries. His new book is The Universe in a Box: Simulations and the Quest to Code the Cosmos.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.