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Judi Lynn

(160,653 posts)
Tue Jan 28, 2020, 04:46 AM Jan 2020

Has physicist's gravity theory solved 'impossible' dark energy riddle?


Prof Claudia de Rham’s ‘massive gravity’ theory could explain why universe expansion is accelerating

Hannah Devlin Science correspondent
@hannahdev
Sat 25 Jan 2020 04.00 EST

Cosmologists don’t enter their profession to tackle the easy questions, but there is one paradox that has reached staggering proportions.

Since the big bang, the universe has been expanding, but the known laws of physics suggest that the inward tug of gravity should be slowing down this expansion. In reality, though, the universe is ballooning at an accelerating rate.

Scientists have come up with a name – dark energy – for the mysterious agent that is allowing the cosmos to expand so rapidly and which is estimated to account for 70% of the contents of the universe. But ultimately nobody knows what the stuff actually is.

“It’s the big elephant in the room,” says Prof Claudia de Rham, a theoretical physicist at Imperial College. “It’s very frustrating.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jan/25/has-physicists-gravity-theory-solved-impossible-dark-energy-riddle
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Has physicist's gravity theory solved 'impossible' dark energy riddle? (Original Post) Judi Lynn Jan 2020 OP
MOST interesting. Duppers Jan 2020 #1
Interesting, but... Red Pest Feb 2020 #2

Red Pest

(288 posts)
2. Interesting, but...
Tue Feb 4, 2020, 02:03 PM
Feb 2020

Until there are actual data supporting this, it remains as an interesting mathematical construct. Perhaps some investigators will take Prof. De Rham’s ideas and test them with some good experiments.

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