Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Is the Universe rotating?

Abstract

From the study of the position angles and polarization of high luminosity classical-double radio sources, it appears that the difference between the position angles of elongation and of polarization are highly organized, being generally positive in one half of the sky and negative in the other. The effect was first noticed amongst a sample of 94 3CR sources and later confirmed in three independent samples. Such a phenomenon can only have a physical explanation on a cosmic scale; an attractive theory is that it demonstrates the existence of a universal vorticity, that is, that the Universe is rotating with an angular velocity ∼10−13 rad yr−1. This would have drastic cosmological consequences, since it would violate Mach's principle1,2 and the widely held assumption of large-scale isotropy.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Raine, D. J. Rep. Prog. Phys. 44, 1151–1195 (1981).

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Ostvath, I. & Schücking, E. Nature 193, 1168–1169 (1962).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Tabara, H. & Inoue, M. Astr. Astrophys. Suppl. 39, 379–393 (1980).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Simard-Normadin, M., Kronberg, P. P. & Button, S. Astrophys. J. Suppl. 45, 97–112 (1981).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Haves, P. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 173, 553–568 (1975).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Laing, R. A. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 195, 261–324 (1981).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Ekers, R. D. Aust. J. Phys. Astrophys. Suppl. 6, 3–87 (1969).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Conway, R. G., Burn, B. J. & Vallée, J. P. Astr. Astrophys. Suppl. 27, 155–170 (1977).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Simard-Normadin, M. & Kronberg, P. P. Astrophys. J. 242, 79–94 (1980).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Högbom, J. A. Astr. Astrophys. Suppl. 36, 173–192 (1979).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Laing, R. A. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 193, 439–449 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Vallée, J. P. Nature 254, 23–26 (1975).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Partridge, R. B. Phys. Scr. 21, 624–629 (1980).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Collins, C. B. & Hawking, S. W. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 162, 307–320 (1973).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Smoot, G. F. Phys. Scr. 21, 619–623 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Gorenstein, M. V. & Smoot, G. F. Astrophys. J. 224, 361–381 (1981).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Birch, P. Is the Universe rotating?. Nature 298, 451–454 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/298451a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/298451a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing