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The hypothesis, which claims that the universe was created for the existence of life, received a new scientific basis. Scientists have proposed a method of its experimental verification. Scientists from the University of California and DESY have proposed a way to test the anthropic principle. This hypothesis states that the universe is set up to support life.
The anthropic principle can be divided into two versions. Weak version states that we observe the universe as it is because there are conditions for life in it. A strong version suggests that the universe had to evolve in this way to lead to our existence. Until now, this principle remained rather a philosophical concept. After all, it was impossible to check it experimentally. But scientists have found a way to change that by combining three key elements of cosmology:
- Cosmic inflation is a momentary period of expansion of the universe immediately after its origin.
- Dark matter, which makes up most of the matter in the universe, but whose nature is still unknown.
- Axions are hypothetical particles that may explain the nature of dark matter.
According to scientists, observations of gravitational waves that were formed during cosmic inflation can confirm or deny the anthropic principle. This is also supported by studies of axions near black holes. For example, if future missions confirm the existence of ultralight axions, this will support the idea that the universe is "tuned". At the same time, the absence of such findings may mean that the initial conditions for the formation of the universe were determined by other laws of physics.
The hypothesis, which claims that the universe was created for the existence of life, received a new scientific basis. Scientists have proposed a method of its experimental verification. Scientists from the University of California and DESY have proposed a way to test the anthropic principle. This hypothesis states that the universe is set up to support life.
The anthropic principle can be divided into two versions. Weak version states that we observe the universe as it is because there are conditions for life in it. A strong version suggests that the universe had to evolve in this way to lead to our existence. Until now, this principle remained rather a philosophical concept. After all, it was impossible to check it experimentally. But scientists have found a way to change that by combining three key elements of cosmology:
- Cosmic inflation is a momentary period of expansion of the universe immediately after its origin.
- Dark matter, which makes up most of the matter in the universe, but whose nature is still unknown.
- Axions are hypothetical particles that may explain the nature of dark matter.
According to scientists, observations of gravitational waves that were formed during cosmic inflation can confirm or deny the anthropic principle. This is also supported by studies of axions near black holes. For example, if future missions confirm the existence of ultralight axions, this will support the idea that the universe is "tuned". At the same time, the absence of such findings may mean that the initial conditions for the formation of the universe were determined by other laws of physics.
