Since the Big Bang Theory was postulated, scientists have struggled trying to understand what the first moments after the expansion of the early universe were like. Thanks to technologies like NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, we are already well on our way to this outcome. Nevertheless, artificial intelligence can also play an important role in the development of this theory.
Using machine learning, scientists at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, in Spain, They have managed to create a simulation of the exact moment in which the universe expanded for the first time; giving birth to a lot of energy that would later become the galaxies we know today. For this project, they used an algorithm they called Hydo-BAM.
But why is it so important? Understanding the first microseconds of the universe’s expansion could finally answer the millions of questions that scientists and astronomers have been asking. Thus, we can come to understand what the first moments after the Big Bang were like; Y how this led to the formation of galaxies in the vast universe.
“Research has also made it possible to reproduce with great precision the so-called ‘Lyman-alpha forests’. These ‘virtual universes’ serve as a test bed for the study of cosmology. However, the simulations are very expensive from a computational point of view , and current computing facilities only allow us to explore small cosmic volumes.”
IAC Representative
How this AI could lead to understanding Dark Matter
One of the areas that could obtain important results with the use of this algorithm is that which studies dark matter. Yes, this element that we have not been able to fully decipher, but that seems to be intrinsically connected to the birth of our universe.
Of course, a simple simulation might not be able to explain the existence and functioning of dark matter. However, yes could give us a clue to its role in the formation of the universe as we know it today.
The members of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands believe that this simulation can help determine the elements of galactic formations. They have specifically emphasized clusters of ionized gas and clusters of neutral hydrogen gas. Both elements have been shown to have a strong relationship in the formation of new galaxies; and with this simulation they can be measured more easily.
The Algorithm not only opens a door to the past of our universebut also to its future. Although by itself it will not mean too many changes in the matter, it can become a powerful tool on which future research interested in studying the birth of everything we know could be based.
“The breakthrough came when we understood that the connections between the amounts of intergalactic gas, dark matter and neutral hydrogen that we were trying to model are well organized in a hierarchical way.”
Francesco Sinigaglia, doctoral student at the University of La Laguna and leader of the research
It is not the only simulation
But the Hydo-BAM algorithm is not the only simulation that exists about the birth of our Universe. There is currently the Thesan Projectdeveloped by the MIT, Harvard University and the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics. With Thesan you can simulate cosmic birth, reionization, chaotic interactions, and much more.
“Thesan’s simulation resolves these interactions with greater detail and volume than any previous simulation. To do this, it combines a realistic model of galaxy formation with a new algorithm that tracks how light interacts with gas, along with a model of cosmic dust.” .”
MIT
With all these technologies, plus the recent launch of special missions, we will probably be at the threshold of a greater discovery and understanding of the universe In which we live. We might even come to understand the formation of life, and hopefully find civilizations like ours in the vast void of space.