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Jamie S. Farnes (born 1984) is a British
cosmologist Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wor ...
, astrophysicist, and
radio astronomer Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects using radio waves. It started in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observations have identifie ...
based at the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. He studies
dark energy In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is a proposed form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales. Its primary effect is to drive the accelerating expansion of the universe. It also slows the rate of structure format ...
,
dark matter In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relat ...
, cosmic magnetic fields, and the
large-scale structure of the universe The observable universe is a spherical region of the universe consisting of all matter that can be observed from Earth; the electromagnetic radiation from these objects has had time to reach the Solar System and Earth since the beginning of th ...
. In 2018, it was announced by Oxford that Farnes may have simultaneously solved both the dark energy and dark matter problems, using a new
negative mass In theoretical physics, negative mass is a hypothetical type of exotic matter whose mass is of opposite sign to the mass of normal matter, e.g. −1 kg. Such matter would violate one or more energy conditions and exhibit strange properties ...
dark fluid toy model that "brings balance to the universe". In 2019, the Farnes Universe was listed as one of the top 10 dark matter candidates.


Education

Farnes was born in
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, England, UK. He attended
Saltash Community School Saltash Community School is a mixed 11 to 18 Academy (English school), academy school established in its present form in 1965, in Saltash, Cornwall, England. The school was previously maintained by the Cornwall Education Authority before 1 April ...
, studied at
Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...
graduating with a BSc with
first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...
in
theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...
(2008), followed by a
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in
astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...
from the
Cavendish Laboratory The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the School of Physical Sciences. The laboratory was opened in 1874 on the New Museums Site as a laboratory for experimental physics and is named ...
at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
(2012). Farnes was also a member of the
Kavli Institute for Cosmology The Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge (KICC) is a research establishment set up through collaboration of the University of Cambridge and the Kavli Foundation. It is operated by two of the University's astronomy groups: the Institute of ...
and studied at Trinity Hall College where
Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...
had previously completed his PhD.


Career

From 2012 to 2015, Farnes was an
Associate Lecturer Academic ranks in the United Kingdom are the titles, relative seniority and responsibility of employees in universities. In general the country has three academic career pathways: one focused on research, one on teaching, and one that combines ...
at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
and within the
ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (or CAASTRO) was a collaboration of international astronomers dedicated to wide field astronomy. It was formally launched on 12 September 2011, at Sydney Observatory and ceased in 2018. Aims CAAS ...
. In 2015 he briefly moved to the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, before he took up an appointment as an Excellence Fellow at
Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, , formerly ) is a public university, public research university located in Nijmegen, Netherlands. RU has seven faculties and more than 24,000 students. Established in 1923, Radboud University has consistentl ...
. In 2017, he moved back to the UK as a
Research Associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Bachelor's degree such as a master's degree or a PhD. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical Scho ...
at the
Oxford e-Research Centre The Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC) is part of the Department of Engineering Science within the University of Oxford in England and is a multidisciplinary informatics and Data science research and education institute. The Centre was founded in ...
within the Department of Engineering Science at the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. In 2019, it was reported that Farnes has since moved on to Faculty, a leading
Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
company. Farnes' current work is on the development of science pipelines for the
Square Kilometre Array The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental organisation, intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square ...
, a next-generation
radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna (radio), antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the r ...
that will generate 5 zettabytes (5 million petabytes) of data each year – a data rate equivalent to 5 times the estimated global internet traffic in 2015. Farnes is a member of two SKA Science Working Groups. Farnes is also a member of the Executive Committee for the POSSUM survey with the
Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder The ASKAP radio telescope is a radio telescope array located at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The facility began as a technology demonstrator for the ...
, on the Board of the
Very Large Array The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is a centimeter-wavelength radio astronomy observatory in the southwestern United States built in the 1970s. It lies in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena, Ne ...
Survey Science Group and co-chair of the Extragalactic Working Group to map the radio
universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...
, and a core member of the LOFAR telescope based in the Netherlands He is engaged in public engagement and has written articles for ''
The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential ...
'', communicated his work in interviews over the
Periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...
platform, and previously run the CAASTRO in the Classroom program funded by the
Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...
.


Research

In 2014, Farnes created a "rainbow of radio data" to solve a problem about whether magnetic fields in space are intrinsic to radio-wave emitting
galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar Sys ...
or
quasars A quasar ( ) is an extremely Luminosity, luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. The emission from an AGN is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole with a mass rangi ...
, or whether they are much closer to Earth—in intervening gas clouds. Farnes and his colleagues were able to show that the magnetic field is usually related to the galaxy or quasar itself and were able to discern the different effects of the core of the galaxy or quasar, and of its radio-emitting 'lobes'. In 2015, he and
Bryan Gaensler Bryan Malcolm Gaensler (born 1973) is an Australian astronomer based at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He studies magnetars, supernova remnants, and magnetic fields. In 2014, he was appointed as Director of the Dunlap Institute for As ...
calculated that the cosmic magnetic fields in ancient galaxies are much stronger than was previously believed, requiring "magnetic fields to be the same strength 7 billion years ago as they are today" In 2017, the
American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...
announced that Farnes had used the
Very Large Array The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is a centimeter-wavelength radio astronomy observatory in the southwestern United States built in the 1970s. It lies in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena, Ne ...
to make the first detailed study of the evolution of
protogalaxies In physical cosmology, a protogalaxy, which could also be called a "primeval galaxy", is a cloud of gas which is forming into a galaxy. It is believed that the rate of star formation during this period of galactic evolution will determine whethe ...
in the early universe and came up with a creative alternative which suggests that a more exotic
dynamo theory In physics, the dynamo theory proposes a mechanism by which a celestial body such as Earth or a star generates a magnetic field. The dynamo theory describes the process through which a rotating, convection, convecting, and electrically conductin ...
must be at play throughout the cosmos. In 2018, it was reported across international media that Farnes may have solved the mystery of
dark energy In physical cosmology and astronomy, dark energy is a proposed form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales. Its primary effect is to drive the accelerating expansion of the universe. It also slows the rate of structure format ...
and
dark matter In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relat ...
by unifying them into a dark fluid with
negative mass In theoretical physics, negative mass is a hypothetical type of exotic matter whose mass is of opposite sign to the mass of normal matter, e.g. −1 kg. Such matter would violate one or more energy conditions and exhibit strange properties ...
. This work reinvoked the creation tensor previously suggested by
Fred Hoyle Sir Fred Hoyle (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) was an English astronomer who formulated the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and was one of the authors of the influential B2FH paper, B2FH paper. He also held controversial stances on oth ...
, but only for negative masses.


Cosmological model

Farnes published a peer-reviewed scientific paper in the journal ''
Astronomy & Astrophysics ''Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering theoretical, observational, and instrumental astronomy and astrophysics. It is operated by an editorial team under the supervision of a board of directors re ...
'' that makes use of theory, simulations, and observations to study continuously-created negative masses. The paper suggests that "the compelling puzzle of the dark Universe may have been due to a simple sign error" and leads to a
cyclic universe A cyclic model (or oscillating model) is any of several cosmological models in which the universe follows infinite, or indefinite, self-sustaining cycles. For example, the oscillating universe theory briefly considered by Albert Einstein in 1930 ...
with a time-variable
Hubble parameter Hubble's law, also known as the Hubble–Lemaître law, is the observation in physical cosmology that galaxies are moving away from Earth at speeds proportional to their distance. In other words, the farther a galaxy is from the Earth, the faster ...
, potentially providing compatibility with the current tension that is emerging in cosmological measurements. The paper states that it was motivated based upon a statement by
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
, who had written that the
cosmological constant In cosmology, the cosmological constant (usually denoted by the Greek capital letter lambda: ), alternatively called Einstein's cosmological constant, is a coefficient that Albert Einstein initially added to his field equations of general rel ...
required that "empty space takes the role of gravitating
negative mass In theoretical physics, negative mass is a hypothetical type of exotic matter whose mass is of opposite sign to the mass of normal matter, e.g. −1 kg. Such matter would violate one or more energy conditions and exhibit strange properties ...
es which are distributed all over the interstellar space". Farnes' theory has created much debate within the scientific community. Krzysztof Bolejko, physicist at the
University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...
in Australia, says "Farnes' maths is fine", and that his hunch is that: "Inside cosmic voids the signal will be clearer and so it will be easier to distinguish between processes caused by dark energy and those caused by a constantly created matter with negative mass". Alex Murphy, Professor of Nuclear & Particle Astrophysics at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
, said the findings were interesting and elegant: "It’s one of many efforts trying to provide answers to deeply troubling issues with our understanding of the contents of the universe. It’s just possible that an idea like this might provide the breakthrough that’s needed". Geraint Lewis, Professor of Astrophysics at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
, said: "On the face of it, it comes up with some of the features of our universe, but the question is now: Can it explain the other observations we have of the universe. There's a whole bunch of tests we have to do first before we can say this is equivalent to our current understanding, and then we need to find out what predictions this model makes that the current cosmological model would fail at. We've always got to be pushing the frontier of fundamental physics because every time we open up a new area – at first it seems esoteric and weird, but eventually it flows into our everyday lives". However, others were more critical with
Sabine Hossenfelder Sabine Karin Doris Hossenfelder (born 18 September 1976) is a German theoretical physicist, author, science communicator, and YouTuber. She is the author of '' Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions''. Earl ...
saying that: "negative masses have not revolutionized cosmology", "Farnes in his paper instead wants negative gravitational masses to mutually repel each other. But general relativity won’t let you do this", and "A creation term is basically a magic fix by which you can explain everything and anything". This was contested by Farnes who submitted a comment that "Your disagreement appears to be with the work of Bondi, who showed that these negative masses are compatible with GR." and that "A creation term is also not 'a magic fix by which you can explain everything and anything'. That is incredibly misleading. It provides very exact and specific well-defined physical properties." ''
Wired magazine ''Wired'' is a bi-monthly American magazine that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. It is published in both print and Online magazine, online editions by Condé Nast. The magazine has been in public ...
'' were also critical about the work, with their Business Editor stating that "his theory isn’t the issue. It’s how Oxford University and Farnes himself communicated it to the wider public." Later the same month, ''Wired'' published a second article stating: "Farnes is careful to point out that his ideas are speculative, and it is still unclear whether they are consistent with prior telescope observations and dark matter experiments". ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' then published an article about a "radical new model of the universe" and claimed "it’s good to remember that the ideas of Einstein and many others were controversial when first published". Farnes claims that definitive proof of this theory will come from measurements of the distribution of galaxies throughout the history of the universe using the
Square Kilometre Array The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is an intergovernmental organisation, intergovernmental international radio telescope project being built in Australia (low-frequency) and South Africa (mid-frequency). The combining infrastructure, the Square ...
telescope, which will come online in 2030.


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farnes, Jamie 1984 births Living people 21st-century British astronomers Scientists from Cornwall Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Academic staff of the University of Sydney