Using results from astronomical observations and computer software, scientists from the Universidad de La Frontera and from Chile created a proposal that allowed them to examine the possible behavior of dark energy since the origin of the universe, 13.8 billion years ago.
UFRO Communications.- They are the researchers Grigoris Panotopoulos, a physicist and researcher at the Department of Physical Sciences of the University of the BorderLuis Campusano, academic from the Department of Astronomy of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (FCFM) of the University of Chile, co-author of the work, and Gerald Barnert, student of a master’s degree in sciences with a mention in physics from the FCFM, U. de Chili.
“Dark energy is a property of space that scientists think is driving the expansion of the universe, making it accelerate. We know dark energy is there because of the way the cosmos behaves. Even before our research, “four types” of dark energy variable in space and time were proposed. Today, thanks to this work, only two are still standing: the phantom model and the number 1 phantom-quintessence model”, explains Grigoris Panotopoulos, a physicist and researcher at the Department of Physical Sciences at the University of La Frontera.
“One of the proposed forms for this dark energy is the so-called ghost energy which predicts an acceleration greater than that produced by Einstein’s cosmological constant. Meanwhile, quintessence could induce the universe to accelerate less than predicted,” adds Luis Campusano, an academic from the Department of Astronomy of the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (FCFM) of the University of Chile, co-author of the work.
Scientists from both Houses of Study found something unexpected. “We note that the curves representing these behaviors intersect at a certain moment in the evolution of the universe. We still don’t know why”, says Gerald Barnert, student of a master’s degree in sciences with a mention in physics from the FCFM, U. de Chile.
THE COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT
The study of dark energy is something recent and fundamental to understanding the evolution of the universe. However, it was Einstein who in 1917 introduced the notion of a repulsive gravitational force in space, represented by a cosmological constant in the equations of his General Theory of Relativity. He did it to fit his predictions to the static universe revealed by observations at the time. When Einstein learned years later, in 1929, that Edwin Hubble had discovered that the universe was expanding, he called introducing that term the biggest mistake of his life. We do not know, if he were still alive, what he would have thought of the discovery of an accelerating universe.
The results were published in the latest edition of the Journal of Modern Physics D under the title: “Correlation of structure growth index with current cosmic acceleration: constraints on dark energy models” (or translated into Spanish: “Correlation of the growth index of structure with current cosmic acceleration: limits for dark energy models).
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