Dark Energy and Cosmic Acceleration: A New But Already Collapsed Idea

Microwave Cosmic Background Radiation, a picture of the universe's temperature fluctuations 13.77 billion years ago

Dartmouth College researchers have argued in their new study that the controversial accelerating expansion of the universe may be an illusion.

The findings don't explain cosmic acceleration; rather, they suggest there's nothing going on. Our solar system is at the center of the universe and there's no dark energy.

The 2011 Nobel Prize was awarded for the discovery that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. This discovery also led to the idea that dark energy, estimated to make up three-quarters of the universe, is responsible for this acceleration.

The alternative idea is that our solar system and the Milky Way galaxy are at the center of the universe. This idea violates the assumption that the universe has no center, but if true, it would explain the accelerating expansion of the universe without requiring dark energy or new laws of physics.

But the Dartmouth researchers realized that this model couldn't be tested in observable ways. They also measured the microwave Cosmic Background radiation, determining that it was impossible for us to be in such a special location in the universe.

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