XMM observes evidence of dark energy

[stevebd1]

'XMM-Newton’s massive discovery'
25 August 2008

'ESA’s orbiting X-ray observatory XMM-Newton has discovered the most massive cluster of galaxies seen in the distant Universe until now. The galaxy cluster is so big that there can only be a handful of them at that distance, making this a rare catch indeed. The discovery confirms the existence of dark energy.'


http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMY70XIPIF_index_0.html

http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=43263

http://arxiv.org/abs/0805.3817

[jnorman]

[QUOTE=stevebd1;1848405]'XMM-Newton’s massive discovery'
25 August 2008

The discovery confirms the existence of dark energy.'


hogwash. does nothing of the kind. only the first of the articles even mentions any connection between the discovery and dark energy. DE and DM are a myth - we just havent quite figured out everything there is to know about gravity yet...

[jnorman]

if anyone is interested in debunking my statement above, please address in your response how you think dark matter and dark energy would fit into the standard model, and, if we apply occam's razor, why reconsidering the csomological constant would not be a simpler possible solution than dreaming up things that do not fit into any prior evidential history. thanks.

[neutralseer]

jnorman,

Why should anyone try to make DM and DE fit into the standard model of particle physics? Clearly they are astronomical evidence for physics beyond the standard model. The standard model clearly is in need of an overhaul (i.e. a new theory must be able to deal with black hole singularities, quantum foam, etc.) and DM and DE might be able to guide us to either a Theory of Everything (i.e. unification all 4 forces) or at least a Grand Unified Theory (i.e. unification Strong, Weak, and EM forces) .

I also don't understand what you're saying about DE and cosmological constant. Are you suggesting that we interpret the accelerating expansion as a manifestation of a cosmological constant and and not use the phrase, "dark energy?" Or are you saying that we should create a new gravitational theory that naturally explains the accelerating expansion?

[Chronos]

I missed the part where dark matter was topical in the esa article, jnorman.