August 17, 2009

an expert comments on new research on dark energy

A new research paper has shed doubt on the origins and nature of dark energy, which is already a mystery in itself.

Professor Ofer Lahav, Perren Professor of Astronomy and Head of Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, said:

“This is a thought provoking paper, challenging the concept of Dark Energy, one of the biggest mysteries in the history of science. It is based on detailed technical work, which of course needs checking before confirming this scenario can work. In a nutshell, astronomers found in many different ways that ‘Dark Energy’ is required in order to explain the data. In this interpretation 75% of the universe at present is made of Dark Energy. An alternative would be to modify the underlying Einstein’s relativity, or to apply it differently, something the authors are trying to do.”

See also this general article by Prof Lahav and a colleague: http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~lahav/CLrev.pdf.