It has taken decades of research for scientists to even begin to understand where Mysterious dark energy comes from. The rapid expansion of the cosmos suggests that some force is overpowering gravity, which should slow things down. Even though dark energy has been proposed as the source of that power, its origin has remained a mystery.
The collective study:
However, a group of 17 researchers from around the world, directed by scientists from the University of Hawaii, have found the first evidence that black holes are the source of Mysterious dark energy.
Black holes gain mass through either the accretion of gas or the merger with other black holes. In contrast, the older black holes are far larger than they should be based on growth by either of these two mechanisms, as determined by researching the history of black holes over nine billion years in dormant huge elliptical galaxies. So, these black holes must be gaining mass in some other way. Scientists think the answer lies in a sort of dark energy known as vacuum energy. According to a statement: “a kind of energy included in spacetime itself … [that] pushes the universe further apart, accelerating the expansion,”.
Dr. Chris Pearson:
As one of the study’s co-authors, Dr. Chris Pearson of STFC RAL Space elaborated on the findings in a press release. He says: “If the theory holds, then this is going to revolutionize the whole of cosmology because at last, we’ve got a solution for the origin of dark energy that’s been perplexing cosmologists and theoretical physicists for more than 20 years,”
Einstein’s theory of general relativity
This concept of black holes as sources of Mysterious dark energy is not new. Einstein put it into his theory of general relativity. It’s the first time astronomers have had observational evidence to back up the notion.
Duncan Farah:
Astronomer Duncan Farah of the University of Hawaii says: “We’re saying two things at once: That there’s evidence the typical black hole solutions don’t work for you on a long, long timescale, and we have the first proposed astrophysical source for Mysterious Dark energy .”
