A General Test of the Copernican Principle

2007/12/31 by Chris Clarkson, Bruce A. Bassett, Teresa Hui-Ching Lu · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph #gr-qc

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.101.011301

published as Phys.Rev.Lett.101:011301,2008 · 5 pages, no figures

arxiv created 2008/03/17 · openalex publication_date 2008/07/02 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

To date, there has been no general way of determining if the Copernican principle--that we live at a typical position in the Universe--is in fact a valid assumption, significantly weakening the foundations of cosmology as a scientific endeavor. Here we present an observational test for the Copernican assumption which can be automatically implemented while we search for dark energy in the coming decade. Our test is entirely independent of any model for dark energy or theory of gravity and thereby represents a model-independent test of the Copernican principle.

Citations

• A Test of the Copernican Principle
• Time Drift of Cosmological Redshifts as a Test of the Copernican Principle
• Undermining the cosmological principle: almost isotropic observations in inhomogeneous cosmologies
• Cosmic distance-duality as a probe of exotic physics and acceleration
• Geocentrism reexamined

Cited by

• Rendering dark energy void
• Copernican principle [wikipedia]