New evidence for a preferred direction in spacetime challenges the cosmological principle
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - 14:30
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- According to the cosmological principle, there is no special place or direction in the universe when viewed on the cosmic scale. The assumption enabled Copernicus to propose that Earth was not the center of the universe and modern scientists to assume that the laws of physics are the same everywhere. Due to the cosmological principle, scientists also assume that the universe is homogeneous - having a uniform structure throughout - and isotropic - having uniform properties throughout.