Evidence of a birefringent universe and an Aquila connection?

[RGClark]

Two separate and independent means of observation have shown indications that the universe may have an axis of symmetry:

Axis of evil' a cause for cosmic concern.
13 April 2007
Zeeya Merali
http://space.newscientist.com/article/mg19425994.000?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=mg19425994.000

One of the observational methods, by detection of the polarization of light from distant galaxies, mirrors earlier observations of Ralston and Nodland:

Is the Universe Birefringent?
"To be more specific, we found that the rate of rotation depends on
the angle between the direction of travel of the wave and a fixed
direction in space, pointing approximately toward the constellation
Sextans from Earth. The more parallel the direction of travel of the
wave is with this fixed direction, the greater the rotation. The
amount of rotation is also proportional to the distance of travel of
the wave. These are the only two dependencies of the rotation.
"The curious effect is illustrated in the diagram above. In this
diagram, Earth is at the center, and the direction toward Sextans is
represented by a red "anisotropy axis.'' The axis extends from Earth
toward Sextans in one direction, and toward the constellation Aquila
in the opposite direction. A plane-polarized radio wave emitted by
Galaxy A (green) travels toward Earth in a direction almost parallel
to the anisotropy axis (red). On the other hand, a plane-polarized
radio wave emitted by Galaxy B (blue) approaches Earth in a direction
almost perpendicular to the anisotropy axis."
http://www.aip.org/png/html/birefrin.htm

Anisotropy in Electromagnetic Interactions.
http://www.rochester.edu/college/rtc/Borge/aniso.html

One explanation of this effect is that of a rotating universe:

Polarized Space
Is the Universe Rotating?
" In 1997, Borge Nodland and John Ralston found in their analysis of astronomical polarization data that the universe had an optical axis: it was circularly birefringent! The universe appeared to behave in a similar way as a crystal with optical activity: it rotated the polarization direction of linearly polarized light! This cosmic "quartz crystal" had an optical axis parallel to the direction Aquila-Earth-Sextans [1]. Is the universe birefringent? Is the universe rotating?
' . . . It is interesting to note that the constellation Sextans stands for the sextant, the ancient navigational instrument by which seafarers would orient themselves. Aquila, by the way, is the messenger from Heaven - the mythological Eagle leading souls to immortality' Borge Nodland"
http://www.polarization.com/space/space.html

These earlier observations of Ralston and Nodland were widely discounted but the recent observations may support them. According to Ralston and Nodland this axis is through the line through the Aquila and Sextans constellations. The question is do the recent observations also show the axis to be in the same direction?

Arthur C. Clarke noticed another curious feature of the constellation Aquila. There have been an inordinate number of novae detected in that direction:

Trouble in Aquila
By Arthur C. Clarke
Cosmic Search Vol. 1, No. 1
"According to Norton's Star Atlas, there have been twenty fairly bright novae between 1899 and 1936. No less than five of them have been in one small area of the sky, in the constellation Aquila. There were two in a single year (1936), and the 1918 Nova Aquila was one of the brightest ever recorded.
"What's going on in this constellation? Why did 25 percent of the novae in a forty-year period appear in only 0.25 percent of the sky? Is the front line moving in our direction?"
http://www.bigear.org/vol1no1/clarke.htm

On the space bbs Habitablezone.com this has been attributed to only a selection effect:

Space Sciences
Trouble in Aquila - a mystery solved?
Posted by ER on 2/19/2007 10:23:22 AM
http://www.habitablezone.com/space/messages/458671.html

Clarke made this observation in the 1960's. It would be interesting to find out if this unusual clustering still holds with more recently detected novae.


One of the confriming observations of the WMAP data is remarkable in itself if confirmed:

'Axis of evil' a cause for cosmic concern
13 April 2007
Zeeya Merali
...
"Now, two independent studies seem to confirm that it does exist. Damien Hutsemékers of the University of Liège in Belgium analysed the polarisation of light from 355 quasars and found that as the quasars get near the axis, the polarisation becomes more ordered than expected. Taken together, the polarisation angles from the quasars seem to corkscrew around the axis.
"This is really promising," says Hinshaw. "Cosmologists should sit up and take notice."
"Cosmologist Carlo Contaldi of Imperial College London is intrigued, but thinks more quasars should be analysed before drawing conclusions. "There is a danger that once people know about the axis of evil, they start seeing evil in all sorts of sets of data," he says.
"The quasar finding has support from another study, however. Michael Longo of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor analysed 1660 spiral galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and found that the axes of rotation of most galaxies appear to line up with the axis of evil (www.arxiv.org/astro-ph/0703325)[/URL]. According to Longo, the probability of this happening by chance is less than 0.4 per cent. "This suggests the axis is real, and not simply an error in the WMAP data,' he says."][/I]"
[url]http://space.newscientist.com/article/mg19425994.000?DCMP=NLC-nletter&nsref=mg19425994.000[/url]

This seems to be saying that the axes through the centers of most spiral galaxies are all aligned in the same direction. If so, this would be remarkable that this wasn't noticed before.
Anyone know if the paper of Michael Longo really does suggest this?



Bob Clark

 

[AndyW]

, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY 14627

Dear Bob Clark,

Thank you for your interest in our recent forum post. it is always exciting to see new evidence that may support previous theories or observations. In regards to the axis of symmetry in the universe, the recent observations of polarized light from distant galaxies and the alignment of spiral galaxies' axes of rotation do seem to suggest the existence of an axis of evil. However, as with any scientific discovery, it is important to continue to gather more data and conduct further studies to confirm these findings.

The observations of polarized light from distant galaxies, as described by Ralston and Nodland, show a dependence on the angle between the direction of travel of the light and a fixed direction in space. This fixed direction points towards the constellation Sextans from Earth. This is consistent with the axis of evil as described in the recent studies by Hutsemékers and Longo. However, it is important to note that more data and analysis is needed to confirm this alignment and its significance.

Similarly, the observation of a clustering of novae in the constellation Aquila, as noted by Arthur C. Clarke, may also support the existence of an axis of symmetry in the universe. However, as noted in the discussion on the space bbs Habitablezone.com, this may also be attributed to a selection effect and further investigation is needed to confirm this correlation.

The recent studies by Hutsemékers and Longo, which confirm the alignment of spiral galaxies' axes of rotation with the axis of evil, are indeed remarkable. As with any scientific discovery, it is important to continue to gather data and conduct further studies to confirm these findings. However, if confirmed, this would provide strong evidence for the existence of an axis of symmetry in the universe.

In conclusion, as a scientist, I am excited about the potential implications of these recent observations and studies. However, it is important to approach these findings with caution and continue to gather more data and conduct further studies to confirm their significance. Only through rigorous and thorough scientific investigation can we truly understand the mysteries of the universe.

[Your Title/Position]
[Your Institution/Company]