AI revolutionizes astronomical research: unlocking the universe’s fundamental parameters

Astronomers are now utilizing AI to achieve unprecedented precision in understanding the fundamental parameters that govern the universe.

Researchers at the Flatiron Institute's Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) in New York City have harnessed AI to refine the calculation of five key cosmological parameters, offering new insights into the universe’s structure and evolution.

The five cosmological parameters are essential to defining the universe's "blueprint," determining how it functions on the largest scales.

According to Liam Parker, an astronomer at CCA and co-author of the study, these parameters act like the universe's operating manual. The research team used AI to analyze data from over 100,000 galaxies observed through the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), a critical tool in cosmology that maps out the universe by examining the distribution of galaxies across space.

AI enabled the team to draw detailed insights from the SDSS data, overcoming challenges posed by the vast amount of information and the limitations of traditional analysis techniques.

Shirley Ho, another CCA astronomer and co-author of the study, emphasized that astronomical surveys like SDSS can be extremely costly, often amounting to billions of dollars. By leveraging AI, the team was able to extract more value from these surveys, making the process more efficient and cost-effective.

To achieve this breakthrough, the AI model was trained on 2,000 simulated universes, each with different cosmological settings.

These simulations incorporated real-world challenges, such as atmospheric distortions and telescope imaging imperfections, to ensure the AI's accuracy. Once trained, the AI was applied to real data from the SDSS Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. The results were remarkable: the AI reduced the uncertainty in measuring the universe’s "clumpiness" by over 50% compared to traditional methods.

This improvement is equivalent to analyzing data with four times the amount of information, significantly enhancing efficiency.

The use of AI in cosmology goes beyond refining existing methods; it also plays a crucial role in tackling major cosmic mysteries.

One such enigma is the Hubble tension - a discrepancy between different measurements of the Hubble constant, which describes the universe's expansion rate. The precision provided by AI could be key to resolving this tension, further advancing our understanding of the cosmos.

As upcoming surveys like the European Euclid survey prepare to gather new data, the AI techniques developed by the CCA team will be vital in maximizing the value of these datasets. The ability to efficiently analyze and interpret vast amounts of cosmic data represents a significant leap forward in the quest to comprehend the fundamental parameters that shape the universe.