Until now, researchers believed that dark energy accounts for almost 70% of the constantly accelerating and
Since the cosmological constant knownAs dark energy cannot be measured directly, many researchers, including Einstein, have doubted its existence, unable to offer it a viable alternative.
A new study by scientists at the University of Copenhagen tested a model that replaces dark energy with dark matter in the form of magnetic forces.
“If what we discovered is correct, thiswill change our understanding of what most of the Universe consists of. We removed dark energy from the equation and added a few more properties of dark matter,” explains Steen Harle Hansen, associate professor at the DARK Cosmology Center at the Niels Bohr Institute.
Previously, scientists assumed that 5% of the universe consists of normal matter, 25% - dark matter and 70% - dark energy.
In the new model of scientists, 25% of dark matter is endowed with special qualities that make 70% of dark energy redundant.
“We know little about dark matter,”except that it is a heavy and slow particle. But then we asked the question—what if dark matter had some kind of quality similar to magnetism? We know that when normal particles move, they create magnetism. And magnets attract or repel others - so what if this is what happens in the Universe? What if this constant expansion of dark matter is due to some kind of magnetic force?” asks Steen Hansen.
A photograph of dark matter that is invisible to the eye, but illustrated here in blue. Photo: NASA / ESA
Hansen's question served as the basis for a newa computer model, in which the researchers included everything they know about the Universe: gravity, the rate of its expansion and X - the unknown force that is responsible for this process.
“We created a model that worked out ofassumptions that dark matter particles have magnetic force. Then we investigated what effect this force would have on the universe. It turned out that it can have exactly the same effect on the expansion rate as is attributed to dark energy, ”explains the scientist.
However, there is still much about this mechanism that researchers have yet to understand. In addition, the theory needs to be tested on more advanced models that take into account more factors.
“To be honest, our discovery might just becoincidence. But, if it isn't, it really is incredible. It will change our understanding of the composition of the universe and the reasons for its expansion. Strictly speaking, our concepts of dark matter with a type of magnetic force and the concept of dark energy are equally insane. Only detailed observation will determine which of these models is more realistic, ”says Hansen.
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General relativity is the currently accepted theory of gravitation, which describes gravitation as a manifestation of the geometry of space-time.