Universe May Be Riding on Expanding Bubble in Extra Dimension

A team of theoretical physicists at Uppsala University, Sweden, has devised a new model for our Universe — one that may solve the mystery of dark energy, a factor that appears to be causing the Universe’s expansion.

Banerjee et al propose a new model with dark energy and our Universe riding on an expanding bubble in an extra dimension. Image credit: Suvendu Giri.

Banerjee et al propose a new model with dark energy and our Universe riding on an expanding bubble in an extra dimension. Image credit: Suvendu Giri.

In the 1990s, astrophysicists found that our Universe is expanding at an increasing rate, implying that space is not empty and is instead filled with an enigmatic ‘substance’ — called dark energy — that pushes matter away.

The nature of this energy is one of the biggest mysteries in fundamental physics.

“It has long been hoped that string theory will provide the answer,” said lead author Dr. Souvik Banerjee and colleagues.

“According to this theory, all matter consists of tiny, vibrating ‘stringlike’ entities.”

“The theory also requires there to be more spatial dimensions than the three that are already part of everyday knowledge.”

“For 15 years, there have been models in string theory that have been thought to give rise to dark energy.”

“However, these have come in for increasingly harsh criticism, and several researchers are now asserting that none of the models proposed to date are workable.”

In their new paper, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, Dr. Banerjee and co-authors propose a new model with dark energy and our Universe riding on an expanding bubble in an extra dimension.

“The whole Universe is accommodated on the edge of this expanding bubble,” they said.

“All existing matter in the Universe corresponds to the ends of strings that extend out into the extra dimension.”

“We also show that expanding bubbles of this kind can come into existence within the framework of string theory.”

“It is conceivable that there are more bubbles than ours, corresponding to other universes.”

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Souvik Banerjee et al. 2018. Emergent de Sitter Cosmology from Decaying Anti-de Sitter Space. Phys. Rev. Lett 121 (26); doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.261301

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