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Nov. 23, 2017
André Maeder, professor at the University of Geneva, questions the theory of dark matter and dark energy.
Image above: André Maeder, Honorary Professor, Department of Astronomy, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva (UNIGE). (Photo: Screenshot RTS).
Dark matter and dark energy haunt the minds of physicists for a long time. These mysterious and elusive elements explain the movement of stars in galaxies and the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. A researcher from Geneva questions this approach.
André Maeder, Honorary Professor in the Department of Astronomy of the Faculty of Science at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) believes that the commonly accepted model of the Big Bang followed by an expansion, which uses dark matter and black energy, does not take into account the "scale invariance of the vacuum".
This expression means that the vacuum and its properties do not change as a result of expansion or contraction. "When we add the hypothesis of the scale invariance of the void, we see a very very small term of outward acceleration that opposes the gravitational force," explained Maeder.
Low density media
On Earth, this term is insignificant, but in very sparse environments, like the edges of a galaxy or clusters of galaxies, it becomes relatively important, continued the professor. It thus makes it possible to account for the high speeds of stars on the borders of a galaxy.
He also explains why, in clusters made up of hundreds of galaxies, the movements observed are faster than what the visible mass would allow. Professor Maeder also finds that his model predicts the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe without any particle or ounce of dark energy being needed.
Image above: The M81 spiral galaxy, photographed by Subaru and Hubble telescopes. Image Credits: Roberto Colombari & Robert Gendler.
To be able to dispense with dark matter or dark energy to explain certain cosmological phenomena would constitute a scientific upheaval. For decades, researchers have been trying to identify dark matter through the establishment of very important means, such as at CERN, for example.
Encouraging beginnings
The hypothesis of André Maeder opens a way to raise issues and controversies, admits the UNIGE in a statement. The Geneva astronomer wants for the moment modest. The first confrontations with the observations are very encouraging, but nothing is ever acquired, he said.
The results of Dr. Maeder's research have been published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal.
University of Geneva, Astronomical Observatory - article: http://www.unige.ch/sciences/astro/en/news/natural-material-and-natural-energy-request/
University of Geneva: http://www.unige.ch/sciences/astro/en/
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