Are dark matter and dark energy caused by same phenomenon?

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Buster59
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After watching a two-part program Everything/Nothing, a thought occurred to me when the discussion turned to particles popping in and out of 'empty' space.
After watching a two-part program Everything/Nothing, a thought occurred to me when the discussion turned to particles popping in and out of 'empty' space. Could these particles be numerous enough in the vast space between stars to be responsible for the gravity holding stars together in galaxies and at the same time be responsible for the expansion of space? They have mass, which would explain the extra gravity if enough of these particles are present at any given time. Particles need space to exist, but by popping into our space, do they cause an expansion of it upon entering that doesn't contract as they exit for some unknown reason? That would explain the expansion of space.
 
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Buster59 said:
Summary: After watching a two-part program Everything/Nothing, a thought occurred to me when the discussion turned to particles popping in and out of 'empty' space.

After watching a two-part program Everything/Nothing, a thought occurred to me when the discussion turned to particles popping in and out of 'empty' space. Could these particles be numerous enough in the vast space between stars to be responsible for the gravity holding stars together in galaxies and at the same time be responsible for the expansion of space? They have mass, which would explain the extra gravity if enough of these particles are present at any given time. Particles need space to exist, but by popping into our space, do they cause an expansion of it upon entering that doesn't contract as they exit for some unknown reason? That would explain the expansion of space.
Dark energy and dark matter are completely unrelated.
 
I thought so until that popped into my head. What if I'm on the right track? There's a lot we don't know about reality.