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Redshift quantization or redshift periodicity is a proposal first made by William Tifft based on his early measurements of the redshift of galaxies, that there is a quantization of the redshifts of galaxies. Since Hubble's Law predicts redshift as an indicator of distance, such a proposal would either indicate a quantization of distances of galaxies from Earth assuming an isotropic distribution. Recent redshift surveys of quasars (QSOs) have found no evidence of quantization , and consequently its veracity as a real phenomenon is disputed.

Those who claim quantized redshift exist claim it to have implications for various standard cosmological models and alternative cosmological models. In particular, many opponents of the Big Bang from Halton Arp to creationists to geocentrists have referred to such observations as reasons to reject this standard account of the origin and evolution of the universe.

Background

"Redshift-magnitude banding correlation" as he first called them, 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".

Criticism

Tifft's proposals are obscure and relatively unknown even among professionals. Of the small number of instances known where independent corroboration of the phenomenon has been attempted, there has been no evidence for quantization of redshifts. 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 do not have the characteristics suggested by Tifft and his enthusiasts. As such with exceedingly few exceptions, moder cosmology researchers have suggested that redshift quantizations are manifestations of other phenomenon, 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 perdiodicities are due to other geometric irregularities. These periodicities or apparent quantizations are relics or faithful fossils of a real quantization that occured in the primordial atom".

In 2005, Tang, Su Min, et al:

".. 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. "

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., "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
3. Tifft, W. G., "Periodicity in the redshift intervals for double galaxies", in Astrophysical Journal, Part 1, vol. 236, Feb. 15, 1980, p. 70-74.
4. 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
5. Sepulveda, E., "Geometric Paradigm Accounts for All Redshift Periodicities" (1987) Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 19, p.689
6. 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)