Op-Ed: The very first stars, and maybe the Uncertainty Principle finds a use for itself


By Paul Wallis
Published October 6, 2022

The James Webb Telescope peers into one of the earliest phases of the Universe. — © AFP

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is doing a lot of very interesting work, but this case is very special work. This is looking way back to the very start of a functional universe as we know it. These are the very early days of star formation, and even, interestingly, quasars and a couple of ancient black holes.

There are also remnants of ancient stars near a black hole. (Link is to Anton Petrov’s excellent YouTube channel. He’s a very good, clear, narrator, and this story isn’t simple.) The star remnants look like the end of the standard universal star life cycles, at the spin-dry stage. There also begins a story which might possibly even justify the existence of the science of physics.

Commentary on the JWST is a bit like race calling. This is an interesting tale, this here universe critter. The universe was a very different place in the beginning. There were barely enough non-H and He elements available to provide even the pretense of a Table of Elements. (This is true to the classic model of what it’s supposed to look like, but don’t despair. JWST has found a lot of fascinating stuff.

Multiple generations of supernovae have since added the current contents of the Table, but the holistic view of the early universe is, well, primitive. So when you see a big quasar or two rattling around, it’s big news. It’s also not necessarily “audited physics” news. Where does this sort of stellar goop get enough energy for quasars?

A quasar is now a super-energy entity and quite common. Then, it wasn’t. Ancient quasars are only now becoming visible, and there obviously aren’t many of them so far. These items of ancient interest are monsters. They’re big, and powerful. That’s a bit weird in this sort of micro, all-over-the-place version of the current universe-ish environment.

Remember this is an extremely new, high-energy, environment. The rulebook was being written for cosmic physics. This original rulebook doesn’t seem to be too pedantic.

The plot, like some theories and some heads, thickens at this point.

Seems the first stars in the universe included a few monsters. One of those monsters was a very large supergiant. It was a supergiant with a twist, though. It blew up in what’s called a pair-instability supernova. It’s one of the very first of its kind.

It may also be a clue to the sheer range and scope of types of matter in the current universe. Maybe even dark matter, which must have some point of origin, surely?

These supernovae have been known for a while. This time, however, the observations included the key trick of direct-pair supernovae – Incredibly high pressures. Gamma ray type pressures, inside the star.

What’s so special about these pressures is that they turn photons into positrons and electrons. This is a classic Uncertainty Principle one-or-the-other outcome.

Why not all electrons or all positrons? Same pressure on the same things produces opposite properties? Why?

To digress for a moment:

There’s a cat laughing its head off.

They ask it what was so funny.

It replies, “They think there’s somebody called Schrödinger”.

Which is what this situation is about. I’ve been marvelling at the Uncertainty Principle for many years The ability of people to start a process to prove beyond doubt they have no idea what happens next fascinates me.

That other well-established axiom of science, “Look long enough and you may find something that proves you right” is another favorite of mine. Can’t imagine why.

Meanwhile, you’ve just been given a map of how to produce positrons and electrons. Have fun.