New findings from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), an international effort with 900 researchers, are challenging previous assumptions, suggesting that the dark energy mystery may evolve over time instead of remaining constant.
DESI has mapped galaxies, quasars, and other cosmological phenomena for years, and its latest data release shows interesting evidence suggesting that the mystery of dark energy is perhaps not as simple as it was through to be but is rather a constant one.
The new results strengthen the argument of previously implied early data, suggesting dark energy evolution occurs over time.
Mystery of Dark Energy
Dark energy is a mysterious force that makes up about 68% of the universe, and dark matter contributes another 27% while visible matter, including galaxies and stars, has only 5%. Although it has an extremely significant impact on how universe expands, the mystery of dark energy is that it is invisible to telescopes. Scientists can only detect it by observing its gravitational pull.
According to the latest DESI data, dark energy properties might still be changing rather than remaining constant. The data covers 11 billion years in the history of the universe, strengthening the case of dark energy weakening or evolving. If confirmed, significant implications will exist, and might lead to two options, either an acceleration of the universe’s expansion or a collapse in a “Big Crunch.”
Rossana Ruggeri, a physicist at the University of Queensland and a member of the DESI collaboration, said that the data is not yet conclusive but, if true, it would strongly indicate that dark energy is not this constant unchanging force hypothesized.
The dark energy evolution theory might compel scientists to revisit the fundamental cosmological models that describe the history of how the universe expanded billions of years ago.
If dark energy is not constant, it could imply a change in the long-term understanding og the end of the universe. For example, a weakening or a changing of dark energy could actually reverse the existing acceleration of the expansion of the universe and make it collapse into a “Big Crunch.”
A threat to the existing Lambda-CDM model assumes that dark energy is not changing. While scientists keep researching dark energy’s properties, the findings may eventually trigger a makeover of assumptions on the fate of the universe.
Dark Energy instrument Spectroscopic Instrument
Now in its fourth year, DESI will collect data for five years, recording more than 50 million galaxies and quasars. The rapid instrument, above the Mayall 4-meter telescope in Arizona, can collect data of more than 100,000 objects in a single night. Having already collected 270 terabytes of data, DESI is revolutionizing how scientists study the dark energy mystery.
By the time the survey is done, researchers will have more knowledge on dark energy properties and how it affects the universe’s expansion. Such findings would set off a radical rethinking of cosmological models, giving new information about dark energy evolution and the ultimate effect it will have.
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