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Korean Scientists Set to Change Face of Cosmology





By Kim Tae-gyu

Staff Reporter

A simulation test on the formation and evolution of the universe, conducted by Korean scientists, shows a galaxy lurking in a large-scale structure of the universe.

A team of Korean scientists conducted the largest-ever simulation experiment to understand the evolution of the universe.

The scientists, led by Korea Institute for Advanced Study professor Park Chang-bom, said Friday their team carried out the four-year project using a supercomputer.

The large-scale simulation test is a must for increasing accuracy in comparing predictions from theoretical cosmological models with observation data.

``Cosmology has been the most untapped segment to enhance our knowledge on the formation of large-scale structures, which include tens of hundreds of galaxies. Our experiment can provide insight on the field,'' Park said.

Park's team used 8.6 billion massive particles that were distributed just like after the Big Bang and calculated the formation and evolution of the universe thereafter during 80 days.

The simulation is about eight times larger than the previous largest test and about 2,000 times bigger than Park's first trial based on 4-million particles in 1990, the largest back then.

``We will finish analyzing the calculation for the next two years through early 2007 and the analysis might completely change the face of the current cosmological model,'' Park predicted.

The 45-year-old said the study already shed light on the plausibility of the existing cosmological model through an in-depth comparison between the model and observational results.

The analysis of Park's team might conflict against the discovery of the Sloan Great Wall, a series of clusters of galaxies with a size of 1.4 billion light-years, by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).

``The likelihood that such big clusters of galaxies exists is just about 2 percent under the legacy model, insinuating it might be dead wrong. If more conflicting proof emerges, the old model will need to be overhauled,'' he said.

Started in the early 1990s, the SDSS is one of the most ambitious astronomical survey projects joined by nations such as the United States, Germany and Japan.

Korea also participated last July in the SDSS, which plans to conclude its observatory tasks midway through 2007. Park now represents the Korean side



Op de volgende Alinea wat reacties graag:

``The likelihood that such big clusters of galaxies exists is just about 2 percent under the legacy model, insinuating it might be dead wrong. If more conflicting proof emerges, the old model will need to be overhauled,'' he said.

Mijn vraag is ? Wordt hier eigenlijk mee bedoeld dat de kans kleiner is dat het supercluster "sloan Great wall" Kleiner is dan de boven beschreven 2 Billion Light years of groter ? Of gaat het hele beeld van de afstands berekeinng in het universum door dit onderzoek op de schop.