Research challenge

A BREAKTHROUGH in the study of physics could be coming up at the University of Leicester.

An international team of researchers will look at how the universe works outside of the confines of planet Earth, and if the basic laws of physics vary.

Professor Martin Barstow, from the university, said the results will hopefully “challenge current theoretical ideas in cosmology.”

The work will specifically look at if the laws are the same in the dense conditions of a dying white dwarf star, undergoing extreme gravity, as they are on Earth.

Researchers are using the light of white dwarf stars osberved with the Hubble Space Telescope to conduct the research.

A preliminary analysis has already been published in the online journal, Universe.

Light from the depth of the star passes through heavy metals, leaving a ‘fingerprint’ in the stars’ light that can be studied.

Differences in the wavelengths of the light, compared to experiments here on Earth, indicate differences in the fundamental laws of physics.

Leverhulme Trust Research Grant funded the project.