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New Data Suggests We Don’t Live in a Void, and Supports Dark Energy
physorg.com ^ | January 28th, 2009 | Lisa Zyga

Posted on 02/03/2009 8:26:34 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach


Temperature fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background, among other data, are helping researchers better understand the accelerating expansion of the universe. Image credit: NASA.

(PhysOrg.com) -- An alternative proposal to dark energy in which the Earth sits near the center of a large void is undergoing scrutiny, and the results show that void models fit poorly with observed data. Nevertheless, scientists say that more research will be needed to determine if void models, dark energy, or something else can accurately explain how the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate.

Almost a decade ago, theorists proposed a void model as an alternative to the repulsive force of dark energy, an unknown force that is not well understood. According to the void model, much of the visible universe lies in a giant void that contains very little matter compared to the matter density outside the void, which is difficult to observe. The void’s low density means the gravitational “braking” force is weak in the void. This creates the illusion that the visible universe is expanding faster than it used to; however, the actual change is not a change over time, but over space.

Scientific data aside, void models have an important philosophical implication: that the Earth occupies a special place at the center of the visible universe. This contradicts the Copernican principle, which says that we should not be at a special place, and has been extended to state that the universe is homogenous. The Copernican principle has served as a pillar for modern astronomy, and if it weren’t true, then astronomers could not rely on local measurements to learn about universal properties.

(Excerpt) Read more at physorg.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy
KEYWORDS: darkenergy; stringtheory
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach; AdmSmith; bvw; callisto; ckilmer; dandelion; ganeshpuri89; gobucks; ...
Thanks Ernest_at_the_Beach.

· Google ·

21 posted on 02/03/2009 5:51:58 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
".....void models: unconstrained and constrained ..."

Clearly we have witnessed both models in the past few years. The "unconstrained" model dominating for the next 4-to-8 years.

22 posted on 02/03/2009 7:36:30 PM PST by SuperLuminal (Where is another agitator for republicanism like Sam Adams when we need him?)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

An interesting idea proposed as a solution to this is that time itself is slowing down. Light (from matter) from billions of years ago would appear to be accelerating faster than possible. Considering that physicists don’t even know what time is, it’s either all relative or nonexistent in the quantum world, this idea makes the most current sense IMO.


23 posted on 02/04/2009 3:50:14 AM PST by allmost
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