THE ”BIG G” CRISIS: metrological deadlock or triumph of precision metrology?

26 August 2026, Version 3
This content is an early or alternative research output and has not been peer-reviewed by Cambridge University Press at the time of posting.

Abstract

"Big G" is a constant of the Universe; this is its fundamental meaning. "Big G" is not measured directly; it is calculated from Newton's law of gravitation. However, this law has a limitation: it does not take into account the gravity of the Universe. It is shown that the reason for the discrepancies lies in the fact that the gravitational background of the Universe is not taken into account in the calculation: (mc^2)√Ʌ. This leads to a shift in the G values by varying amounts, depending on the contribution of (mc^2)√Ʌ. In essence, metrologists were the first to experimentally detect an external factor of a gravitational nature, which is not included in Newton's law. Physics has traditionally posed challenges to metrology and developed thanks to the results of precise measurements. As R. Davis [2] notes, an increase in accuracy by even one decimal place reveals new physical realities and confirms or refutes existing theories. In the situation with measuring "big G," metrology has outpaced physical theory. For the first time in the history of science, metrology had grounds to pose a challenge to physics: "We have no doubt about the accuracy of our instruments; we have discovered an unaccounted cosmological factor that is not included in your law; a new law of gravity is needed that will allow us to correctly calculate the value of Big G." The Big G crisis is not caused by "bad instruments," but by the imperfection of the physical law from which it is calculated.

Keywords

gravity
Big G problem
Newton's law of gravity
Universe
Great Attractor
astronomy

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting and Discussion Policy [opens in a new tab] - please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here [opens in a new tab] .
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy [opens in a new tab] and Terms of Service [opens in a new tab] apply.