Our universe: An expanding bubble in an extra dimension

-
In their article, the scientists 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.
Uppsala University researchers have devised a new model for the Universe -- one that may solve the enigma of dark energy. Their new article, published in Physical Review Letters, proposes a new structural concept, including dark energy, for a universe that rides on an expanding bubble in an additional dimension.

We have known for the past 20 years that the Universe is expanding at an ever accelerating rate. The explanation is the "dark energy" that permeates it throughout, pushing it to expand. Understanding the nature of this dark energy is one of the paramount enigmas of fundamental physics.

It has long been hoped that string theory will provide the answer. According to string 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 article, the scientists 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. All existing matter in the Universe corresponds to the ends of strings that extend out into the extra dimension. The researchers 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.

The Uppsala scientists' model provides a new, different picture of the creation and future fate of the Universe, while it may also pave the way for methods of testing string theory.

Comments

Post a Comment

Please comment on this blog-

Popular posts from this blog

E-bandage generates electricity, speeds wound healing in rats

-
Image
                                                                                                                                                       A wound covered by an electric bandage on a rat's skin (top left) healed faster than a wound under a control bandage (right). Skin has a remarkable ability to heal itself. But in some cases, wounds heal very slowly or not at all, putting a person at risk for chronic pain, infection and scarring. Now, researchers have developed a self-powered bandage that generates an electric field over an injury, dramatically reducing the healing time for skin wounds in ...
Read more

Fathers Are Happier Than Mothers, Study Shows — And Here's Why

-
Image
The third study compared fathers to mothers and their level of happiness while caring for their children. Fathers, it seems, are more likely to be happy while caring for their children than mothers. A 2019 study out of the University of California Riverside, highlights one more aspect in the divide between fathers and mothers, and more broadly, men and women. The research, a meta-analysis of three different studies, looked at the emotional health of 18,000 people and compared traits like well-being, happiness, episodes of depression, and stress. The first two studies within the research compared parents to childless people and found that fathers are happier than their child-free peers. The reason? Dads, more often than moms, report playing with their children while providing care. Now, let's unpack this a bit. We can assume, that of the 18,000 couples who took part in this research, many split household chores equally. But over recent years, much light has...
Read more

Your friends shape your microbiome — and so do their friends

-
Image
Analysis of nearly 2,000 people living in remote villages in Honduras reveals who’s spreading gut microorganisms to whom. Friends share more than just food when they dine together.Credit: Getty A shared meal, a kiss on the cheek: these social acts bring people together — and bring their microbiomes together, too. The more people interact, the more similar the make-up of their gut microorganisms is, even if individuals don’t live in the same household, a study1 shows. The study also found that a person’s microbiome is shaped not only by their social contacts but also by the social contacts’ connections. The work is one of several studies2 that raise the possibility that health conditions can be shaped by the transmission of the microbiome between individuals, not just by diet and other environmental factors that affect gut flora. In the quest to understand what shapes a person’s microbiome, social interactions are “definitely a piece of the puzzle that I think has been missing until rec...
Read more