Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and Empty Space

In summary, the conversation discussed the possibility of dark matter and dark energy being contained within the structure of space-time itself. Some theories suggest that dark matter may be lumpy and could explain the observed rotation of galaxies, while others propose alternative forms of gravity. The idea of dark energy decaying into space-time was also considered. However, past experiments have not been able to detect any medium in which electromagnetic radiation travels through, leading to the widely accepted theory that light travels through empty space.
  • #1
soyounoat
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Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and "Empty Space"

I'm new to this forum, and I've looked around but did not find this discussed. Apologies if I missed it.

Has anyone in the research of Astrophysics considered the "missing mass" of the Universe to be contained in the structure of space-time itself? Given a section of so-called "empty space" between galaxies with zero particulate mass, electromagnetic radiation (such as light) still has a speed limit. The propagation of energy across space, while very fast from out perspective, is ultimately frustratingly slow. We cannot even observe our own galaxy in it's entirety because the image of the other side is how it appeared 100,000 years ago. This soup of "empty space" that has an IMPEDANCE to electromagnetic radiation has got to be made of something. Is anyone with credibility addressing this in the Halls of Science today?

-soyounoat
 
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  • #2


An attempt at a physical explanation for dark energy is the energy of the vacuum. The problem with this attempt is that the vacuum energy would be 120 orders of magnitude too big.
 
  • #3


soyounoat said:
...Has anyone in the research of Astrophysics considered the "missing mass" of the Universe to be contained in the structure of space-time itself?

I've considered this myself and have looked into gravitation waves, dark flow, cosmic inflation and other subjects. I have not been able to completely dispel the notion. In fact I wonder if spacetime itself around galaxies is not spinning.

Observing other galaxies, they are spinning too fast and should fly apart. So Dark Matter was conceived to explain it. There was NASA experiment that proved that the spacetime around the Earth is twisted "frame dragging" I think it was called. If a spinning Earth can warp spacetime, what affect would a spinning galaxy have on the surrounding spacetime after a 13 billion years or so?
 
  • #4


soyounoat said:
Has anyone in the research of Astrophysics considered the "missing mass" of the Universe to be contained in the structure of space-time itself?

Yes. The problem is that dark matter appears to be lumpy. There's more dark matter in some parts of the universe than others. You can see this via gravitational lensing, and also via the lumpiness in galaxy distribution.

If you have something that is part of space time, then its hard to come up with lumpy stuff. If you assume that dark matter is some sort of heavy particle, then you can come up with lumpy galaxies pretty well.

One other possible candidate for dark matter is "alternative gravity" and that is something like what you are proposing.

This soup of "empty space" that has an IMPEDANCE to electromagnetic radiation has got to be made of something. Is anyone with credibility addressing this in the Halls of Science today?

They worked on this at the end of the 19th century. Look up lumeriferous ether and Michaelson-Morley. There are a lot of clever experiments you can do to look for this medium, and they have all turned up negative.

There are reasons why people think that EM just goes through empty space. If you have some sort of fluid that EM is going through then you ought to see scattering and lensing effects. Also something that is weird about light is that light always travels at the speed of light, which doesn't make sense if light is traveling through a medium.
 
  • #5


RayYates said:
I've considered this myself and have looked into gravitation waves, dark flow, cosmic inflation and other subjects. I have not been able to completely dispel the notion

People did it at the late 19th century. Look up Michaelson-Morley experiment. To summarize. If light is moving though something, then you ought to be able to detect the motion of the Earth through that something, and you don't. This confused people for a few years, until some guy named Einstein came up with an explanation for what is going on.

One thing problem with popular explanations of things is that they only mention the one explanation that seems to work. The don't mention the hundred or so explanations that people tried that didn't work. So the question of "have people thought of X" is usually "yes, people have thought of X, and it didn't work because..."
 
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Is it possible that dark matter works in an entirely different way than we think? Is it possible that dark matter actually decays into dark energy?
 
  • #7


maddox210 said:
Is it possible that dark matter actually decays into dark energy?

Sure, there has been a lot of work on this topic. See http://arxiv.org/abs/0811.0099 and references therein.
 
  • #8


I was thinking perhaps Dark Energy decays into space-time.
 
  • #9


How would one go about proving that? Could you perhaps start a private messages with me?
 

1. What is dark energy?

Dark energy is a theoretical form of energy that is thought to make up approximately 70% of the universe. It is believed to be responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe.

2. What is dark matter?

Dark matter is a theoretical form of matter that is thought to make up approximately 25% of the universe. It does not emit or absorb light, making it invisible, but its presence can be inferred through its gravitational effects on visible matter.

3. How do we know dark energy and dark matter exist?

Both dark energy and dark matter are theoretical concepts that have been proposed to explain observations of the universe, such as the accelerating expansion and discrepancies in the rotation of galaxies. However, their existence has not been directly observed, and research and experiments are ongoing to better understand these phenomena.

4. What is the relationship between dark energy and dark matter?

Dark energy and dark matter are two separate concepts that are not directly related. While both are thought to make up a large portion of the universe, they have different properties and effects on the universe. Dark energy is believed to be responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe, while dark matter is thought to play a role in the formation and structure of galaxies.

5. What is empty space?

Empty space, also known as the vacuum of space, is the vast expanse of space between celestial objects. While it may seem empty, it is filled with particles and fields at the quantum level. It is also believed to contain dark energy, which contributes to the overall energy of the universe.

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