We have a bit of a crisis on our hands — a dark matter crisis if you will. That’s because, for years, scientists theorized that dark matter, an unseen force, helps hold the universe together. However, new research suggests that our current models of the universe are wrong about how old the universe is and whether or not dark matter even exists.
It’s a huge change from the current scientific models that we use to help us understand what we see when we observe the universe. But, if correct, it could fundamentally rip apart the very fabric of everything we know about the cosmos and this reality we call home.
The theory started gaining traction last year when physicist Rajendra Gupta published a proposal that the currently accepted age of the universe is simply a trick of the light. Instead, the universe is much older, which means we don’t need to rely on mysterious dark matter as a crutch to help us understand it. Enter our current dark matter crisis.
Instead of relying on the “magic” of dark matter or dark energy, Gupta instead prefers to look at the universe without using that lens. “In standard cosmology, the accelerated expansion of the universe is said to be caused by dark energy but is in fact due to the weakening forces of nature as it expands, not due to dark energy,” Gupta explained in a statement.
Gupta isn’t the only one to question the existence of dark matter, either. Several papers have questioned its existence. However, Gupta’s new research may be the very first to actually eliminate it from the cosmology equation altogether. Removing the need for dark matter from the equation, Gupta says, opens new doors for us to explore the fundamental properties of our universe.
The age of the universe has also long been a debated subject in the scientific community. We saw Gupta’s initial research last year, stating the universe is twice as old as previously determined, while others say the universe is actually much younger.
Of course, for Gupta to pull other scientists into this dark matter crisis of existence, he’s going to have to convince them that his model does a better job of explaining the intricacies of the universe than the current one, which relies on dark matter as a pushing force of expansion. Being able to explain away dark matter would make physics slightly easier in some respects. But, it isn’t an end-all solution, as we’ll still need to prove that the universe’s age matches up with what Gupta is predicting.
