Apparently, there are two ways in which the universe can be weight, and there are two different results. If scientists find more precise measurements for it, and they don’t solve the discrepancy problem, then they may have to revise the standard model of cosmology – which is the closest we have to the description of the universe.
Hendrik Hildebrandt, the astronomer of the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, stated, “If this really is a glimpse of the standard model breaking down, that would be potentially revolutionary.”
Scientists have been worried before because of the correctness of the standard model because there were two independent calculations of the Hubble constant and of the rate at which the universe is expanding today. These two measurements were not the same thing, which led to the Hubble tension.
The difference between the two is called a sigma-eight tension, and it’s about measuring the density of matter in the universe and the degree in which it forms a clump and is uniformly distributed. The result is called sigma-eight. In order to calculate sigma-9, Hildebrandt, together with his colleagues, used an effect that’s called the gravitational lensing. This one suggests that the light from distant galaxies is being bent slightly towards our telescopes because of the gravitational pull from the matter that exists between the galaxies and the Earth.
About weak lensing
The distortion is so minimal that it doesn’t really change the shape of an individual galaxy. However, if we take an average of the shapes in tens of thousands of galaxies, there is a sign of weak lensing seen. And even if we presume that galaxies should be randomly oriented towards Earth, their average shape should be circular and without weak lensing.
Astronomers were able to use this signal in order to find out the amount and distribution of the matter – both normal and dark matter – when it comes to the various galaxy–rich regions across the sky.
