Researchers thought that the density of dark energy has remained the same since the universe's birth, but the data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) seemingly suggests otherwise.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA )
DESI Reveals New Details About Dark Energy
DESI could have discovered something unique. As its name implies, DESI is a tool for studying the properties of dark energy, an enigmatic substance that makes up 68% of the universe's energy and pushes space apart in a manner opposite to gravity.
Until now, scientists have assumed that the density of dark energy has remained constant since the universe began 13.7 billion years ago, even though they are unsure of its exact nature. However, DESI's first findings imply that this presumption might not have been accurate. Scientists at DESI speculate that dark energy's density may have been shifting over time.
Dragan Huterer from the University of Michigan, who worked on the project, found the findings strange. He added that cosmology would be thrown into disarray should the results hold true.
Since dark energy is challenging to investigate directly, little is known about its true nature. The leading theory holds that energy is inherent to a space's vacuum.
Based on quantum theory, a vacuum is not empty; it is fizzed with innumerable pairs of particles and antiparticles that arise from nothing and eventually destroy one another. On the cosmic scale, these interactions create a "vacuum energy" that can potentially push space apart.
However, this theory is subject to controversy. Physicists have calculated the vacuum energy density, but their results are between 60 and 120 orders of magnitude more extensive than what is currently supported by observation. This error is referred to as the "vacuum catastrophe."
According to Dr. Huterer, there is a consensus that fundamental new insight will be required to resolve the catastrophe.
It is predicted that the universe will continue to expand indefinitely, with galaxies eventually vanishing from the view of one another, a phenomenon known as the Big Freeze. However, suppose the density of dark energy may vary, as DESI implies. In that case, other possibilities arise: ever-denser dark energy may eventually force atoms and perhaps spacetime to explode apart, a scenario known as the Big Rip.
On the other hand, the universe might once more be dominated by matter and gravity due to dark energy with decreasing density, which would bring the universe to an inverse Big Bang event called the Big Crunch. Earthlings don't need to worry too much since long before one of these outcomes happens, the Sun will engulf the innermost planets in the solar system.
Dark Energy Can Periodically Switch On and Off
Another study attempts to characterize the nature of the enigmatic dark energy phenomena, which is assumed to be responsible for the universe's rapid expansion. Physicists have discovered that cosmic expansion isn't always true, though.
Dark energy can switch on and off regularly. Therefore, it can occasionally cause the universe to expand or contract until the conditions are suitable for a new Big Bang to occur, giving rise to a new universe.
Cosmologists dubbed it dark energy because they could not figure out what was causing the universe's fast expansion. If this expansion continues, the cosmos will eventually expand and break apart.
RELATED ARTICLE: Dark Energy That Periodically Switches On Off Could Lead To More Big Bangs
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