The UPV/EHU will lead an international research to understand the expansion of the universe

2017/07/03 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Fisika
• Astrofisika

For four years, 200 researchers from 25 countries will study the possibility of going beyond general relativity in scales in which Einstein's theory fails, within the CANTATA project. The project, which has a European grant, will be directed by Ruth Lazkoz Saez, cosmologist of the UPV/EHU.

As Lazkoz himself explained, “the CANTATA project has to basically investigate the possibility of knowing, with the astrophysical data available, if we have to go beyond Einstein’s theories to explain, for example, why an accelerated expansion of the universe occurs.”

In fact, observations made in recent years have shown that the universe does not play as expected according to Einstein's theory of gravity. “The gravity we know is of attraction, but to accelerate the expansion of the universe it is necessary to have a repulsive gravity. For example, according to Einstein's relativity, we cannot fully understand that the two planets repel instead of attracting us, because our intuition tells us that gravity has to be attractive," explains Ruth Lazkoz.

They have been with the CANTATA project for a year and the assessment is very positive. Thanks to this, they have strengthened the collaboration already existing among the research groups and expect it to grow in future collaborations.