From 16 to 21 June, forty scholars, including two Nobel Prize winners, will discuss the relevance of George Lemaître’s scientific intuitions. The Director, Brother Guy Consolmagno: “There should be no confusion between the Big Bang and the Genesis story of Creation. They are two distinct fields of a single path”
by Fausta Speranza
The true nature of Space and Time. This fascinating horizon of thought will be discussed at the scientific conference organized by the Vatican Observatory in Albano Laziale from 16 to 21 June, entitled “Black holes, gravitational waves and space-time singularities”. The workshop – focused on the relevance of the scientific intuitions of George Lemaître (1894-1966) – was presented this morning in the Press Office of the Holy See. Brother Guy Consolmagno, SI, planetary scientist director of the Vatican Observatory, underlined that the promoted debate represents a “neutral ground” for comparison for scientists of different orientations. “The objective is the truth”, he stated, underlining the importance of continuously contributing to research in the awareness of everything that is not yet possible to know”. This is the second conference dedicated to the priest, professor of physics at the Catholic University of Louvain, who from 1960 to 1966 was also president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The proceedings of the first, which took place in 2017, were published by the Foundation of Physics.
High level participation
In this year’s conference, also supported by the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), the topics under discussion will range from the tension in the measurements of the Hubble constant, to the enigmatic nature of space-time singularities (including the Big Bang and black holes ), up to gravitational waves and the search for quantum gravity and its connections with entanglement and the foundations of quantum theory. Matter is not immediately understandable but we understand how it involves investigating what space-time singularities tell us about the nature of our Universe. The response in terms of participation – as underlined by Father Gabriele Gionti, Jesuit cosmologist, deputy director of the Vatican Observatory – was enthusiastic. Don Matteo Galaverni, cosmologist at the Specola, specified that in addition to the 40 participating scholars of theoretical and observational cosmology – including Nobel Prize winners Adam Riess and Roger Penrose; the cosmologists and theoretical physicists Andrei Linde, Joseph Silk, Wendy Freedman, Licia Verde, Cumrun Vafa and the winner of the Fields Medal Edward Witten – in attendance there will be at least 150 scholars connected online. And it is interesting to know that the video recording of the conference will be on the Specola website, perhaps in live streaming, certainly deferred.
Listen to the words of Don Matteo Galaverni
There are also many reservations for the evening of June 21st open to the public in which Viviana Fafone (University of Rome Tor Vergata and National Institute of Nuclear Physics INFN) and Gabriele Veneziano (European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN and Collège de France) will talk about holes blacks, gravitational waves and the Universe before the Big Bang.
Lemaître’s great legacy
George Lemaître – underlined father Gabriele Gionti – he was a milestone in studies on the subject by interacting with Einstein, also “correcting the great scientist on some points”. In particular, Lemaître did not have Einstein’s closure with respect to quantum theory but rather “was able to immediately welcome the prospect of having two dimensions, that of classical physics and quantum physics”. Furthermore, he “demonstrated the ability to immediately understand the importance of studies on the cosmological constant, which is now used to explain the acceleration of the universe.”
Listen to the words of Father Gabriele Gionti
In particular, Father Gionti explained that in the 1920s, astronomical observations had revealed a mysterious recessional motion of distant galaxies. In 1927, solving the complicated equations of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, Lemaître explained that this motion was the result of the expansion of the Universe. This was shortly before Edwin Hubble’s observations established a relationship, called “Hubble’s law” that links the recession speed and distance of galaxies. For this reason, in 2018, the International Astronomical Union voted to rename “Hubble’s Law” “Hubble-Lemaître Law”.
On the subject of the Big Bang, Father Gionti clarified that the theory of the “Primordial Atom”, today known as Lemaître’s theory, is famous. He understood that the expansion of the Universe implied that at some time in the past the Universe must have passed through a state of very high energy density, like an “original atom” from which everything began. His study can therefore be considered the precursor of modern quantum gravity.
Between faith and science
Regarding the ongoing challenge of understanding how faith and science, Genesis and studies in progress, should not be conceived “in competition”, Father Gionti said that Pius XII resorted to Lemaître to express the point of view of the Church which feeds on both faith than scientific knowledge. Brother Guy Consolmagno he referred to the confusion that is sometimes created between the Big Bang theory and the Genesis narrative on Creation to underline that these are two distinct fields in their paths of study which are part of a single path.
Listen to the words in the original language of Brother Guy Consolmagno
The speed of galaxies
Massimo Bianchi, theoretical physicist, full professor at the University of Rome and INFN Tor Vergata, spoke at the press conference to explain, among other things, that today among the topics of in-depth analysis is that of the speed of galaxies. On the subject of black holes it is important to understand – he clarified – “it was important to understand, compared to the past, that the speed of light is not infinite, that light propagates with a very high but finite speed”. He also added that recently discovered gravitational waves are currently under the attention of scholars. Bianchi also recalled that George Lemaître and Einstein met personally on four occasions.
Listen to the words of Massimo Bianchi
Fabio Scardigli, theoretical physicist from the Polytechnic University of Milan, explained that these are “the two great theoretical constructions of the twentieth century which are still the basis of knowledge of the universe” and that the aim of the conference is to make them dialogue.
