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Redshift quantization or redshift periodicity is the hypothesis that the redshifts of cosmologically distant objects (in particular galaxies) tend to cluster around multiples of some particular value. Since there is a correlation of distance and redshift as expressed in Hubble's Law, redshift quantization would either indicate a quantization of the distances of galaxies from the Earth or a problem with the redshift-distance correlation either of which would have serious implications for cosmology. In particular, many opponents of the Big Bang from Halton Arp to creationists to geocentrists have referred to such observations as reason to reject the standard account of the origin and evolution of the universe.

The first researcher who claimed to observe such a clustering was William Tifft. Recent redshift surveys of quasars (QSOs) have found no evidence of quantization , and consequently most cosmologists dispute the existence of redshift quantization beyond a minimal trace due to galaxy clustering.

Background

"Redshift-magnitude banding correlation" as he first called it, was first investigated in the 1970s by (now Emeritus Professor of astronomy) William G. Tifft He wrote:

"Using more than 200 redshifts in Coma, Perseus, and A2199, the presence of a distinct band-related periodicity in redshifts is indicated. Finally, a new sample of accurate redshifts of bright Coma galaxies on a single band is presented, which shows a strong redshift periodicity of 220 km s. An upper limit of 20 km s is placed on the internal Doppler redshift component of motion in the Coma cluster".

In summary, Tiffts notes that:

"Redshift quantization has three main facets: 1) the internal organization of galaxies, 2) differential effects between galaxies in physical systems, 3) global effects linking all galaxies and cosmology. The subject originated as an outgrowth of redshift correlation studies including studies of internal kinematics of galaxies. While possibly central to understanding redshift quantization, this aspect is complex and largely undeveloped. The bulk of the evidence for redshift quantization comes from differential and global periodicity testing."

"The work has developed within three broad categories, beginning with, (1), correlations between the redshift and intrinsic properties of galaxies. These studies quickly led to the discovery of apparent redshift quantization which provides the second type of test. (2) Is the redshift a discrete or continuous quantity? The need for high precision and a thorough understanding of uncertainties led more recently to the detection of apparent redshift variability which provides a third form of testing. (3) Is the redshift rapidly variable? Throughout the development of the program it has seemed increasingly clear that the redshift has properties inconsistent with a simple velocity and/or cosmic scale change interpretation. Various implications have been pointed out from time to time, but basically the work is observationally driven."

Subsequent work by other researchers

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, four studies on redshift quantization were performed:

1. In 1989, Martin R. Croasdale reported finding a quantization of redshifts using a different sample of galaxies in increments of 72 km/s (Δz=2.4x10).
2. In 1990, B. Guthrie and William Napier were able to find a "possible periodicity" of the same magnitude for a slightly larger data set limited to bright spiral galaxies and excluding other types
3. In 1992 Guthrie and Napier proposed the observation of a different periodicity in increments of Δz=1.24x10 in a sample of 89 galaxies
4. In 1992, A. Holba, et al reanalyzed the redshift data from a fairly large sample of galaxies and concluded that there was an unexplainable periodicity of redshifts.

All of these studies were performed before the tremendous advances in redshift cataloging that would be made at the end of the 1990s. Since that time, the number of galaxies that have measured redshifts has increased by several orders of magnitude.

Evaluation and criticism

After Tifft made his proposal, discussion of it was generally confined to detractors of standard cosmology. Nevertheless, it was nearly 20 years before other researchers tried to corroborate his findings. After a brief flurry of interest, the consensus in the astronomical community became that any quantization was either coincidental or due to so-called geometrical effects. Current observations and models of large-scale structure models trace filamentary superclusters and voids that cause most galaxies in a rough statistical sense to have correlated positions, but such groupings would not allow for a strength of periodicity required if it were a hallmark characteristic of the redshifts of galaxies. As such with exceedingly few exceptions, modern cosmology researchers have suggested that redshift quantizations are manifestations of well-understood phenomena, or not present at all.

In 1987, E. Sepulveda suggested that a geometric paradigm based on the polytrope theory could account for all redshift periodicities, and that:

The smallest periodicities (Δz=72, 144 km/sec) are due to parallel line segments of galactic clustering. The largest (Δz=0.15) are due to circumferential circuits around the universe. Intermediate periodicities are due to other geometric irregularities. These periodicities or apparent quantizations are relics or faithful fossils of a real quantization that occurred in the primordial atom".

In 2005, Tang and Zhang:

".. used the publicly available data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and 2dF QSO redshift survey to test the hypothesis that QSOs are ejected from active galaxies with periodic noncosmological redshifts. For two different intrinsic redshift models, and find there is no evidence for a periodicity at the predicted frequency in log(1+z), or at any other frequency. "

They also outlined previous research on the subject, noting that:

"The above an intrinsic redshift hypothesis, if true, will have far-reaching consequences for cosmology and the nature of QSOs. Most of those previous studies on the Karlsson formula used rather small samples (except for Arp et al. 2005), and have been suspected that the claimed peaks were due to artifacts associated with selection effects (Basu 2005). To avoid such a heterogeneous selection manner as well as personal prejudice, Hawkins et al. (2002) tested the periodicity in log(1 + z_qso) with 2dF redshift survey data with 67291 nearby galaxies and 10410 QSOs; it was found that there is no periodicity in log(1 + z_qso). However, Napier & Burbidge (2003) argued that in order to use the 2dF sample to properly test the original hypothesis, it is necessary to establish for each pair that the galaxy is at least a late-type active spiral system. Arp et al. (2005) also re-examined the 2dF sample and claimed that they found that the redshifts of brighter QSOs in the QSO density contours fit very exactly the long standing Karlsson formula and confirm the existence of preferred values in the distribution of quasar redshifts."

Footnotes

1. Tang, Su Min; Zhang, Shuang Nan, "Critical Examinations of QSO Redshift Periodicities and Associations with Galaxies in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data", in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 633, Issue 1, pp. 41-51 (2005)
2. Tifft, W. G., "Periodicity in the redshift intervals for double galaxies", in Astrophysical Journal, Part 1, vol. 236, Feb. 15, 1980, p. 70-74.
3. Tifft, W. G., "Fine Structure Within the Redshift-Magnitude Correlation for Galaxies", The Formation and Dynamics of Galaxies: Proceedings from IAU Symposium no. 58 held in Canberra, Australia, August 12-15, 1973. Edited by John R. Shakeshaft. International Astronomical Union. Symposium no. 58, Dordrecht; Boston: Reidel, p.243
4. Tifft, W. G., "Redshift Quantization - A Review", Astrophysics and Space Science, v. 227, p. 25-39, 1995
5. Croasdale, Martin R., "Periodicities in galaxy redshifts", Astrophysical Journal, Part 1, vol. 345, Oct. 1, 1989, p. 72-83.
6. Guthrie, B. N. G.; Napier, W. M., "The Virgo cluster as a test for quantization of extragalactic redshifts", Royal Astronomical Society, Monthly Notices (ISSN 0035-8711), vol. 243, April 1, 1990, p. 431-442.
7. Guthrie, B. N. G.; Napier, W. M., "Evidence for redshift periodicity in nearby field galaxies", Royal Astronomical Society, Monthly Notices (ISSN 0035-8711), vol. 253, Dec. 1, 1991, p. 533-544.
8. Holba, A., Horvath, I., Lukacs, B., & Paal, G, "Cosmological parameters and redshift periodicity", Astrophysics and Space Science (ISSN 0004-640X), vol. 198, no. 1, p. 111-120. 1992. See also reference to Broadhurst et al
9. For examples, see references by nonstandard cosmology proponents, Moley B. Bell (1973) , A. Ia Kipper (1979) , Paul Laviolette (1986) , and the Barnothys (1980) as well as a 1977 criticism of the subject by Sir Martin Rees
10. Sepulveda, E., "Geometric Paradigm Accounts for All Redshift Periodicities" (1987) Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 19, p.689
11. Tang, Su Min; Zhang, Shuang Nan, "Critical Examinations of QSO Redshift Periodicities and Associations with Galaxies in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data", in The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 633, Issue 1, pp. 41-51 (2005)
12. Tang et al (2005) op cit