Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Exploring the Mysteries of the Expanding Universe with Adam Riess

Jul 4, 2024

Renowned astrophysicist Adam Riess discusses the Hubble tension challenging our understanding of the universe, variations in the expansion rate, dark energy's role, and the concept of the cosmological principle with Brian Keating. Key topics include measuring distances, Einstein's contribution, and reflections on competition in science.

59:32

Episode guests

Adam Riess

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

The Hubble tension challenges our understanding of the universe's expansion rate.

Observing distant supernovae reveals the universe's accelerating expansion, contrary to previous expectations.

Dark energy, especially related to Einstein's cosmological constant, plays a key role in the universe's accelerated expansion.

Deep dives

Challenges in Measuring the Universe's Expansion Rate

The podcast delves into the challenges of accurately measuring the universe's expansion rate using tools like the Hubble Space Telescope and Gaia mission. There is a discrepancy in measuring the expansion rate from different starting points, suggesting potential issues with the cosmological model itself.

Intro

3min

The Accelerating Universe and Dark Energy

10min

Exploring the Mysteries of the Expanding Universe

3min

Contemplations on the Mysteries of the Universe and Cultivating Curiosity

6min

Measuring Distances in the Universe with Cepheid Variables and Type 1A Supernovae

15min

Reflections on Competition and Excellence in Science

2min

Exploring Concepts in Cosmology and Physics

18min

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What is the Hubble tension? How does it challenge our current understanding of the universe? Why do different methods of measuring the universe’s expansion yield different results? And does our cosmological model need a complete overhaul?

I had the honor of discussing all this and more with none other than Adam Riess. Riess is a renowned astrophysicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking research on the expansion of the universe. Through extensive measurements and collaborations with other scientists, Riess discovered an intriguing tension in the size of the expansion of the universe, which has been steadily increasing over the last decade. These results, which have reached a significant level of more than 5 sigma, have revealed an unexpected phenomenon: the universe's expansion rate seems to vary depending on whether we start from the beginning shortly after the Big Bang or from the present.

In this episode of Into the Impossible, Riess and I explore the challenges of measuring distances in the universe, the possible role of dark energy, and how this challenges the concept of the cosmological principle.

Tune in!

Key Takeaways:

00:00 Intro
01:03 Proving Einstein wrong
06:38 Struggling with experiment results
08:57 What is the Hubble tension?
18:45 Can curiosity be cultivated and sustained?
24:05 Measuring distances in the universe using parallax
32:54 The Hubble tension persists
38:56 Revising the cosmological principle
42:47 Gravitational lensing
51:03 Surprising JWST findings
54:33 Theoretical implications of the Hubble Tension measurements
56:47 Outro

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