Will we ever manage to unlock the secrets of the universe? Hard to say. Even so, researchers continue their quest for answers. A team from Uppsala University recently produced a new theoretical model, capable of solving the dark matter enigma. It depicts a universe on the surface of an expanding bubble, in another dimension.
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Straddling a balloon
For 20 years, scientists have confirmed that the universe is expanding at an ever faster pace. Stars, clusters, clouds and other galaxies move away from each other like dots on the surface of a balloon that is being inflated. The force behind this expansion is unknown to scientists, which has earned it the name of dark energy.
According to the new model put forth by Uppsala researchers, our universe would not be on the surface of a balloon, but on that of an expanding bubble, located in another dimension. This model is in line with the physico-mathematical constraints resulting from the observations and circumvents the critics made to string theory.
Cosmic degeneration
String theory proposes a universe containing additional dimensions to the four that we already know. These additional dimensions are tiny, compacted to the Planck scale, making their presence imperceptible. This theory has, however, been the subject of much criticism for its mathematical inconsistency and the inconsistency of its results with respect to observations.
The universe proposed by the researchers would be a degeneration of an Anti-de Sitter universe in 5D; in short, a cosmos in five dimensions whose transition from one state (in five dimensions) to another (in four dimensions) would be implemented by the emergence of a positive cosmological constant: the expansion of the universe. This highly theoretical (and complex) article offers a new insight into the world in which we could live.
Check out the video above for a visual explanation of this fascinating new theory!
