In the earliest moments of the universe, nearly 14 billion years ago, a phenomenon both fascinating and mysterious occurred. At the very moment of the Big Bang, an unknown force triggered a rapid exponential expansion of the universe in its initial stage. This event, known as cosmic inflation, allowed for the creation of all the matter that exists today and laid the foundations for what we now know as the observable universe.
This ancient force shares surprising similarities with the dark energy that now dominates the cosmos, as suggested by the inflationary theory of the universe. Dark energy, which makes up approximately 70% of the universe, remains one of science’s greatest mysteries, as its nature and function are not yet fully understood.
A team of researchers led by Professor Gregory Tarlé of the University of Michigan and researcher Kevin Croker of Arizona State University has proposed a groundbreaking theory in a recent paper published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. In their study, they argue that dark energy could be directly related to black holes, particularly in the context of their formation and development.
According to Tarlé, the inflation process that took place at the beginning of the universe could be repeating on a small scale inside black holes. This implies that when a massive star collapses and becomes a black hole, matter transforms once again into dark energy, in a process that reverses the Big Bang, like a “mini Big Bang” in reverse.
The paper details that if black holes contain dark energy within them, they could be coupled to the expansion of the universe, thereby accelerating its steady growth. Although this team of scientists has yet to detail the exact mechanism that would allow this phenomenon, observed evidence indicates that something similar does appear to be happening.
The researchers analyzed data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which consists of 5,000 robotic eyes installed on the Mayall Telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. These “eyes” can look billions of years into the past, allowing astronomers to gather data on the universe’s expansion rate with impressive precision.
During the first year of a five-year investigation, data collected by DESI showed fascinating indications that the density of dark energy has increased over time. This phenomenon, the scientists argue, offers a crucial clue supporting the hypothesis that dark energy may be linked to black holes. This increase in dark energy density coincides with the growth and increase in the mass of black holes, especially over time.
For some scientists involved in the study, this new theory initially sparked skepticism. This was the case for Emeritus Professor Steve Ahlen of Boston University, who admits he approached the research with an open but doubtful mind. However, after performing cosmological calculations, Ahlen concluded that the proposed hypothesis was an intriguing mechanism to explain the creation of dark energy.
The team used data from millions of distant galaxies, analyzing the rate of new black hole formation throughout the history of the universe and comparing it with the behavior of dark energy. For Duncan Farrah, an associate professor of physics at the University of Hawaii, this observed relationship between black holes and dark energy makes it increasingly plausible that black holes could be the source of dark energy.
Previous studies had already explored the relationship between dark energy and black holes, especially in supermassive black holes located at galaxy centers. However, the novelty of this paper lies in the examination of younger black holes, formed at a time when star formation, and therefore black hole formation, was in full swing.
The study represents a paradigm shift in how scientists approach the mystery of dark energy. As Professor Tarlé notes, the relationship between black holes and dark energy has shifted from being a purely theoretical question to becoming an experimental one. The deployment of DESI has opened new opportunities to observe and analyze this phenomenon. The coming years could bring crucial observations that clarify whether black holes indeed play a role in the creation and expansion of dark energy.
SOURCES
Kevin S. Croker, Gregory Tarlé, et al., DESI dark energy time evolution is recovered by cosmologically coupled black holes. Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 10(2024)094, DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2024/10/094
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