了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S10E05

Part 4 Aug. 5, 2022, 5:05 p.m.

迫使光线传播得更远一点
forcing the light to travel
a tiny bit farther.
在一个难以置信的距离上反弹一束激光
You're bouncing a laser
over an incredible distance
并试图测量时空本身
and trying to measure as
spacetime itself
被拉伸和变形的距离
gets stretched and deformed
激光是否传播地会远一点
whether that lazar had to
travel a tiny bit further
或更短一点
or a tiny bit shorter,
这里的一小点是一个原子
and a tiny bit here is
the width of a single atom
在数英里的距离上变化的宽度
over miles
and miles of distance.
LIGO 已经探测到碰撞的黑洞
LIGO has already detected
colliding black holes,
但它也收到了来自较小质量物体的
but it's also received
a signal from something
信♥号♥♥
less massive.
中子星是宇宙中除黑洞之外
Neutron stars are
the densest thing in
密度最大的物质
the universe other than
black holes.
它们是坍塌形成黑洞之前的
They're the last stopping point
before you would collapse
最后一个停歇点
all the way to form
a black hole.
它们有华盛顿特区那么大
They're the size of
Washington, D.C.,
但它们的质量可以达到两个太阳
but they can have
the mass of two suns.
中子星之间的碰撞是非常强大的
A collision between neutron
stars is incredibly powerful.
这是宇宙中能量最大的事件之一
It's one of the most energetic
events in the universe, and it
它极大地扭曲了时空的结构
distorts the fabric of
spacetime very strongly,
因为它们的引力太强了
because their gravity
is so strong.
但与黑洞合并不同的是
But unlike
black hole mergers,
中子星碰撞的同时也能发出光
neutron star collisions can
also send out light.
2017年，LIGO 发出警报——
In 2017, LIGO sent out
an alert -- more than
地球上和太空中的70多架望远镜立即投入使用
70 telescopes on Earth and in
space swung into action.
这次双星中子星合并
This binary neutron star
merger was the first time
是我们第一次看到
we had witnessed
gravitational waves
引力波和光波来自同一事件
and light waves coming from
the same event.
这是开创性的
It was groundbreaking.
这一事件是哈勃猎手的理想选择
This event is ideal
for Hubble constant hunters.
光告诉我们
The light tells us how fast
碰撞的恒星移♥动♥得有多快
the colliding stars
are moving away from us.
引力波给了我们距离
Gravitational waves
give us the distance.
如果我们知道它离我们有多远，运动有多快
If we know how far away it is
and how fast it's moving,
这就是哈勃常数
that's the Hubble constant.
庞岑:把中子星合并添加到你的
PONTZEN: Having neutron star
mergers added to your arsenal
测量宇宙膨胀的方法库中
of ways of measuring
是很好的，因为它是
the universe's expansion
is great, because it's
完全独♥立♥的
completely independent.
它所使用的物理原理与我们目前
It uses physics that's not
related to either
所使用的两种方法都没有关系
of the two competing methods
we have so far.
听起来完美
Sounds perfect.
结果呢？
The result?
所以这个原本希望能打破僵局的
So this brand-new
measurement that
全新测量结果……
were hoping would be
a tie breaker...
最后正好处于这两个极端之间
ended up coming right in
between these two extremes.
谢谢你的帮助
Thanks for the help.
但情况可能并不像听起来那么糟糕
But it might not be
as bad as it sounds.
我们探测到的即引力波又有光的
The number of neutron star
collisions where
中子星碰撞次数……只有一次
we have detected gravitational
waves and light...one.
我们不应该因为这个
We shouldn't be at all
disheartened by the fact
还没有解决问题而沮丧
that this hasn't
actually decided
因为当你只有一个对象时
the problem, because there's
a huge margin for error
这是有很大误差余地的
when you have just one object.
我们想要100个类似
We would like
something like 100 events
中子星合并的事件
like this neutron star merger.
这似乎是我们需要的巨大改进
That might seem like
a huge improvement we need,
但实际上，在未来十年
but actually,
it's very feasible that
我们实现这一目标，这是非常可行的
in the next decade,
we'll get there.
引力波可能会告诉我们
Gravitational waves
may give us a precise age of
宇宙的确切年龄，但它们也有可能
the universe,
but there is a chance
告诉我们，问题不在于我们的测量
they'll tell us the problem
isn't with our measurements,
而在于我们对宇宙的理解
but with our understanding
of the cosmos.
如果我们不断得到关于哈勃常数的不同答案
If we keep getting different
answers for the Hubble constant,
特别是根据我们使用的方法
especially depending on
the method we use,
这是一个很大的线索
that's a big clue that
we don't
表明对于宇宙的演化
understand something
fundamental about
我们还有不了解的一些基本的东西
the universe's evolution,
它的组成，以及一些其他重要的东西
its makeup,
something important.
我们对宇宙年龄的研究
Our search for the age of
the universe just might
可能会破坏我们对宇宙运行方式的思考模式
destroy our model of how
we think the cosmos works,
使物理学陷入混乱
plunging physics
into chaos.
我们不知道宇宙的年龄
We don't know
the age of the universe.
我们曾希望我们的实验结果
We had hoped that the results
from our experiments would be
会像建一座桥一样，从两端开始
like building a bridge,
starting at opposite ends
在中间会合
and meeting in the middle.
随着时间的推移
As time goes on,
随着证据的积累
as the evidence accumulates,
桥的两边是不会相交的
these two sides of the bridge
are not gonna meet.
有些东西必须要放弃
Something has to give.
一些人认为，问题在于
Some believe the problem
lies in the way
我们对早期宇宙图像的解释方式
we've interpreted the picture
of the early universe,
即隐藏在宇宙微波背景中的图案
the pattern hidden in
the cosmic microwave background.
我们对来自宇宙微波背景辐射的数据
We're really confident in
the data that we have from
很有信心，但它实际上
the CMB, but it's actually
an indirect
是对宇宙年龄的间接测量
measurement of
the universe's age.
这取决于我们对宇宙的模型是否正确
It depends on our model of
the universe being right.
很有可能，极有可能是我们用来
It could be, it could very well
be that our fundamental
成功描述宇宙的
cosmological model
that we've used
基本宇宙学模型
to successfully describe
the universe is coming up short,
出现了问题
that there's something
wrong in there,
即引擎坏了
that that engine is broken.
这个引擎就是标准的宇宙模型
That engine is
the standard cosmological model.