The Cosmology
Redshift and the Loss of Energy
Pavle I. Premović
Laboratory for Geochemistry, Cosmochemistry&Astrochemistry,
University of Niš, pavleipremovic@yahoo.com, Niš, Serbia
Conservation
of energy is perhaps one of the most important principles in physics and it is not
violated in any field of physics including quantum physics.
The Big Bang hypothesis,
governed by General relativity, is dominant in cosmology. It states that the
Universe as a whole is continuously expanding since it was created during the
Big Bang about 13.8 Gy ago. Its galaxies are receding from one another and
light emitted by them shows the cosmological redshift due to a Doppler shift in
light arising from this recession.[1]
However, this theory is still not universally accepted and there
are other theories about the origin of the Universe.
There
is another distinct cause for the spectroscopic shift of the light emitted by a
galaxy: the kinematical Doppler effect of Special relativity. This shift can be
positive (redshift) or negative (blueshift). In contrast, the cosmological
redshift is always positive, because the Universe is expanding. In this short communication, we will deal
only with this shift.
One of the problems facing the
Big Bang hypothesis is the apparent violation of the Principle of energy
conservation by cosmological expansion. Indeed, the cosmological redshift of a galaxy’s
light indicates a decreased energy of its photons and this decrease
implies either their energy is not conserved or it must be lost during their
transit from a galaxy to the Earth. This communication is not the place to deal
with these issues; instead, we recommend the paper by LaViolette {1}.
We will consider four possibilities for the cosmological redshift of light
emitted from a nearby or distant galaxy[1]
(hereafter referred to as galaxy) – zG.
For this purpose, we will use the photon energy of that light in its course
from the emitter-galaxy to the Earth observer (hereinafter observer).
Let us denote with E0 = hν0 energy
of the photon emitted by the galaxy and with E = hν the energy of it measured
by the observer. Let us also denote with c0 the speed of light
emitted by the galaxy and with c (= 299792 × 108 m sec-1)
the speed of light received by the observer. We know that h (= 6.63×10-34 J sec) is
Planck’s constant and ν0 and ν are
corresponding frequencies and that the wavelength divided by the speed of light
is frequency.
Possibility1: if c0 = c and if E0 (=
hν0) = E (=
hν0)[1],
or ν0 = ν, then λ0 = λ then there is no energy loss and no
redshift of the light emitted by the galaxy and the light received by an observer;
possibility 2: if c0 = c and E0 > E, or ν0 > ν, then λ0 < λ so there are the energy loss and the redshift. The “tired light” hypothesis is based on this possibility This theory provides an alternative to the Big Bang and an expanding Universe.
In the “Tired light” model, redshifts are explained in terms of photons of light interacting with material particles as they travel through intergalactic space [3]. In this case, the energy loss is expressed by the following relation ED = E0e-βD where β is the energy attenuation coefficient and D is the photon traveling distance in the intergalactic space. So, there is no need for an expansion of the Universe to explain the redshift. According to this model, space is Euclidean, static, slowly evolving, and probably infinite [3];
possibility 3: Premović [4] a priori adopting the Principle of energy conservation (E0 = E) and the redshift (λ > λ0) found that c0 = c/(1 + zG) and λ = λ0(1 + zG). Therefore, there is an expansion of the Universe and hence a redshift, but not a loss of energy; and,
possibility 4: Premović {2} suggests that the superluminal speed of light coming from distant galaxies in the
non-expanding (Euclidean) Universe may explain the redshift of that light.
There
are two general possibilities for the loss of energy of photons traveling
through intergalactic space. The first is that the photon energy decreases
inversely proportional to the distance D or mathematically expressed E ∝
1/D. (Previous version of this communication contained here an incorrect mathematical expression. The
error is rectified now). The second is that this energy decays
exponentially (e. g., the tired light model) or mathematically speaking E = E0e-αD
where α is the rate of
energy loss. In both cases, it is assumed that the photons
lose energy owing to some known or unknown process.
Finally, we note that the conservation of
energy is valid in Special relativity and Quantum theory but is still a
controversial issue in General relativity.
References
{3} P. A. LaViolette, Genesis of the Cosmos. The ancient science of continuous creation. Bear & Company (2004).
[1] In general, there are three sources of the redshift of a galaxy’s light: Doppler shifts; gravitational redshifts (due to light exiting a gravitational field); and cosmological expansion (where space itself stretches).
[2] We define nearby galaxies as those galaxies whose redshift zG is from 0.001 to 0.1 (or 0.001 ≤ zG ≤ 0.1) and distant galaxies as those having zG > 0.1 {2}. Of course, there is no sharp boundary between nearby and distant galaxies.
[3] This results from the Principle of
energy conservation.
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