Scientists are faced with the daunting task of understanding why observations of the Universe do not match their calculations of its expansion. The new hypothesis offers a strange, but effective solution to the problem.
Cosmologists have put forward a new hypothesis as to why the universe is expanding faster than it should, based only on the available data. When the universe was only 100,000 years old, a mysterious energy field that scientists call "early dark energy" was formed, which pushed the still-forming cosmos to its outer edges faster than ever, according to a study originally published in the arXiv.org preprint database.
After another 100 thousand years, as the researchers suggest, the strange energy field dissipated, and the young accelerated universe continued to develop without it.
The new hypothesis represents another attempt to explain the discrepancy between the calculations of the expansion rate of the Universe and the actual observations of space.
The observable universe today is expanding nine percent faster than calculations suggest. Scientists are working on the assumption that mysterious dark energy is driving the expansion of the universe. The recurring appearance of energy fields like "early dark energy" could explain the different periods of increased acceleration in the history of the universe.
Moreover, this hypothesis could sufficiently explain all the discrepancies between the calculations of astronomers and their observations.
"Perhaps the universe does this from time to time?" - says Adam Riess, a scientist at Johns Hopkins University. He also added that this is not the first time the universe has expanded so rapidly.
Other explanations for the increased and decreased acceleration of the expansion of the Universe could mean introducing as yet unknown types of subatomic particles or carefully revising previous calculations for errors.
Promotional video:
And while finding that some scientists have made mistakes in their calculations seems to be more of a pragmatic solution, ideas that include previously unexplored aspects of physics - such as fields of early dark energy or new types of particles - are becoming more realistic.
“I was surprised how it turned out,” adds Mark Kamionkowski, a cosmologist at Johns Hopkins University. - It works!"
Vladimir Guillen
