New study suggests that the accelerated expansion of the Universe and dark matter are a “cosmic illusion”.
The Universe is expanding at an accelerated rate. This fact is known to scientists. It’s just hard to understand why.
A new published in the magazine Galaxies proposes an unusual explanation: the accelerated expansion of the Universe and dark matter could both be a “cosmic illusion” caused by changes in the fundamental constants of the universe.
“The forces of the universe become, on average, weaker as the universe expands,” scientist Rajendra Gupta told . “This weakening makes it appear that there is a mysterious force pushing the universe towards faster expansion (what we identify as dark energy).
“However,” he continues, “at the scale of galaxies and galaxy clusters, the variation of these forces within their gravitationally bound space results in additional gravity (attributed to dark matter). But this may all just be an illusion, emerging from the evolving constants that define the strength of the interactions.”
The paper suggests that galaxy rotation curves, gravitational lensing and dark energy can be explained by covariant coupling constants (CCC). This consists of the idea that the “constants” of the Universe, such as the strength of gravity and electromagnetism, vary over time and in an interconnected way.
“The most exciting thing is that this new approach allows us to explain what we observe in the sky — the rotation of galaxies, their clustering and even the way light bends around massive objects — without needing to imagine that there is something hidden out there,” says Gupta. “It all just results from the constants of nature varying as the universe ages and becomes more irregular.”
Grupta was already in the news in 2023 for stating that the Universe was 26 billion years old. Now, he is again receiving criticism for his bold study.
“The model was only fit to supernova data,” argues Professor Tamara Davis. “It’s not enough to fit a single data set and ignore all others.”
But Grupta remains confident in his model: “Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best. Perhaps the greatest secrets of the universe are just tricks caused by the evolution of nature’s constants.”
