Decoding Redshift: What Happens to Light’s Energy?

Quick Summary:

• Cosmic inflation is a model that explains the rapid expansion of space-time shortly after the Big Bang, shaping the universe’s large-scale structure.
• Redshift is a phenomenon used to measure cosmic distances by observing how light stretches (its wavelength becomes longer and redder) as it travels through expanding space-time.
• Redshifting light’s energy diminishes during this process, raising questions about whether energy conservation-a key principle in physics-applies on cosmic scales.
• Einstein’s theory of general relativity indicates that energy conservation doesn’t necessarily hold true in an expanding universe. Energy associated with curved space-time complicates customary definitions of physics principles like conservation of energy.
• Scientists debate whether lost light energy vanishes or interacts with gravitationally related energies embedded in space-time.

Image Credit: Science Photo Library/Alamy

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