Imam PBUH Facebook Post: Dark Energy

23 February 2014
Super User

In the name of Allah, the Abundantly Merciful, the Intensely Merciful.

Praise be to Allah Lord of the worlds.

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Dark energy:

In the twentieth century, astronomical observations of Type Ia supernova which explodes when
a white dwarf reaches 1.4 solar masses provided cosmological standard candles by which it is
possible to know astronomical distances accurately. This is because when this type of white dwarf
explodes and transforms into a supernova, they all produce the same luminosity and dim at the
same rate since they all have a nearly identical composition. Additionally, they all explode when
reaching the same 1.4 solar masses, which represents the white dwarfs maximum mass, as it
strips the hydrogen-rich gases from its aging companion star. As such, density and heat
continuously increase until the temperature reaches more than 10 million degrees and nuclear
fusion of the entire white dwarf occurs. The star then ignites and explodes massively, tearing the
star apart and producing a supernova that is greater than Type Ia.

What causes the increase or decrease in the brightness of the white dwarfs is the distance
between them and the observer, or the distance between the supernova and the observer. This is
what makes them standard candles for accurately determining astronomical distances, as
mentioned before. For example, if we know the distance between us and a supernova, and if we
want to measure the distance between us and a second supernova that has a quarter of the first
supernovas brightness, then the distance between us and the second supernova is twice the
distance between us and the first supernova. This is because brightness is proportional to the
square of the distance. This also means that if we know the distance between us and a
supernova we can calculate its luminosity. Since supernovae are continuously exploding in the
universe around us, they have provided accurate information about astronomical distances. In
addition, observing them showed the speed of the expansion of the universe (matter and energy).

At the end of the twentieth century, a team of researchers who observed supernovae concluded
that a supernova far from us is less bright than it should be. This means that the universe is
expanding at a speed greater than expected, which in turn means there is increasing, massive,
unknown energy resisting the gravity of the mass of cosmic matter and pushing toward expansion
at an increasing rate.

Following the development of a tool for measuring precise astronomical distances, and by
measuring distances of galaxies and the speed of their distancing, astronomers discovered that
there is great unknown energy fighting the gravitational force of matter in the universe, and
actively partaking in the continuous expansion of the universe at an increasing rate. This energy
was called dark energy.

As for the mathematical calculation of this issue, depending on the above and available results
and observations, astronomers were able to know the value of the difference between - =
0.46 0.03.

represents the ratio of the density provided by dark energy to the critical density.

represents the ratio of the average density of all matter in the universe to the critical density.

The critical density is the density at which the curvature of the universe is zero, according to
Einsteins equations.

According to the results of astronomical observations, in the visible universe, the ratio of the
average density of all matter including dark matter in the universe calculated based on gravity
to the critical density is almost 0.25, meaning 0.25.

From the equation above, we can find that the value of is:

= + 0.46

= 0.46 (0.03) + 0.25 0.71

This means that + = 0.96~0.99.

To some physicists and astronomers, this number is almost one, meaning the curvature of the
universe is zero.

From Einsteins relativity equation about the shape of the universe and its expansion or stability,
we can know the value of the critical density of matter in the universe. Critical density is the
density of matter in the universe at which the curvature of space is zero. Actual density is the
density of the universe that is actually measured, including the cosmic energy converted to the
matter that it equals according to Einsteins equation E=mc2.

If the actual density is larger than the critical density, the curvature of the universe is positive like
the surface of a sphere. This also means that if our universe is expanding, it will eventually
contract and its expansion will not continue forever.

If the actual density is less than the critical density, this means that the curvature of the universe
is negative, like a hyperbolic paraboloid or the saddle of a horse, and its expansion will continue
forever.

If the value of the actual density is equal to the value of the critical density, the curvature of the
universe is zero, or lets say it is flat, and its expansion will continue. However, the rate of its
expansion will slow down and approach zero without ever actually reaching it.

According to the previous results, the ratio is nearly 1. This means that the actual density is equal
to the critical density, meaning the curvature of the universe is zero and it is flat.

In addition to what supernovae have provided, as mentioned above, observation of cosmic

background radiation and the drawing of a precise map of the deviations within it using
sophisticated equipment mounted on aircraft and satellites at the end of the twentieth century and
beginning of the twenty-first century enabled scientists to determine the sum of and , and
the value was almost 1.02 0.02. If we go back to the result provided by supernovae of the value
of the difference between them we would obtain almost the same result, which is that their sum is
almost 1.

This means the cosmological constant in Einsteins equation is not 0 as previously expected, and
there is an unknown energy, or dark energy, that represents the majority of the energy affecting
the universe, and if converted it to mass, it is the greatest contributor to the mass of the universe.
The other issue is that the curvature of the universe is 0, meaning that it is flat