Scientists are studying in the nature of a Mysterious power called dark energyNothing is less than the fate of the universe hanging in balance.
The power is enormous – it constitutes approximately 70 % of the universe. It is strong – it pays all stars and galaxies away from each other at a rate faster than ever.
Now scientists are a little approaching to understand how he behaves. The big question is whether this is Dark energy It is a fixed force, which scientists have long thought, or whether the force is weakening, surprisingly surprisingly in the past year.
The results presented In a meeting The American Physical Society Wednesday strengthens the situation that the force weakens, although scientists are not sure yet that they still have not caused what this means for the rest of their understanding of the universe.
The updated results come from international research cooperation that creates a three -dimensional map to find out how galaxies spread and have more than 11 billion years from the history of the universe. Tracking how galaxies carefully helps scientists to identify the forces that move them.
Call A spectral tool for dark energyThe cooperation issued its first analysis of 6 million galaxy Kawazrat Last year, he now added more data, up to approximately 15 million. They support their updated results, which are taken with other measurements – the stars explode, the remains of light from the young universe and deformities in the form of a galaxy – the idea that was presented last year that the dark energy may diminish.
“It moves from a really sudden discovery to almost a moment where we have to present how we thought about cosmology and starting again,” said Povenish Jain, the cosmologist at the University of Pennsylvania, who did not participate in the research.
It is not time to exclude the idea that the dark energy is fixed because the new results are still shy of the golden standard level of statistical physics it requires. Cooperation aims to appoint about 50 million galaxies, and by the end of its survey in 2026. Other efforts around the world monitor dark energy and aim to launch its own data in the coming years, including Euclid mission to the European Space Agency And Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.
“We want to see many different cooperatives with similar measurements” in this golden standard to ensure that the dark energy is weakening, “said cosmologist Chris Bardo with the University of Southern California, which did not participate in the new research.
If the dark energy is fixed, scientists say that our world may continue to expand forever, grows more cold and still.
If the dark energy decreases over time, which now appears reasonable, the universe may one day stop expansion and then eventually collapse over the so -called major crisis. Mustafa Ehhak Bouchki of the University of Texas in Dallas, the cosmologist and collaborator of the study, said that it may not seem more fateful, but it provides some closure.
“Now, there is a possibility that everything will end,” he said. “Do we consider something good or bad? I don’t know.”