A team of researchers led by Nicolas Fernandez from Rutgers University has made a breakthrough in understanding dark energy, a mysterious driver of the universe’s accelerating expansion. By using a physical model based on black holes turning matter into dark energy, they have provided new insights into this enigmatic phenomenon.
The study, published in Physical Review Letters, suggests that dark energy’s influence on the universe is not constant, but rather changing over cosmic time. The researchers used high-tech experiments and precise data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) to support their claims.
Fernandez explained how his team mathematized models to determine “how the math works here, how the physics work.” As a theorist, he aimed to come up with ideas to explain some of the universe’s mysteries, such as dark energy and dark matter. He compared his role in the study to making models, comparing them to the data to say “our model predicts this or our model is congruent with the data.”
The team focused on an interpretation of black holes as tiny bubbles of dark energy, which requires the conversion of stellar matter into dark energy. This link between dark energy production and matter consumption was measured by the Hubble Space Telescope and now the James Webb Space Telescope.
One major focus of the study is the mass of ghost-like particles called neutrinos. The researchers found a measurement greater than zero for these particles, which agrees with existing knowledge and improves upon previous interpretations that preferred zero or negative masses.
The DESI collaboration involved over 900 researchers from more than 70 institutions, making it an international experiment led by members of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The instrument was constructed and operated with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.
Fernandez expressed his enthusiasm for being part of this collaborative effort, highlighting the freedom to pursue research interests at the New High Energy Theory Center at Rutgers University. He emphasized that this center offers a rare independence in academia, allowing researchers to explore unconventional ideas and explore cosmological questions that captivate him.
Source: https://www.rutgers.edu/news/cosmologist-aids-effort-study-dark-energy-filled-black-holes