Cosmic Triangle: Myth or Reality?

Dark energy, dark matter and atoms

The recent discoveries, astrophysical measurements and astronomic observations have led over the time to a formulation of the cosmic triangle theory of the Universe which includes three major disproportional constituencies such as light matter (4%), dark matter (22%) and dark energy (74%). This can be true noting a non-linear composition of the world where we live. Besides measurements of the anisotropy (temperature fluctuation) of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), a remnant of the Big Bang, suggest that the Universe is flat, rotating and expanding at an accelerated pace while having in its center a supermassive black hole. But the fact needs to be acknowledged that more is unknown than known creating endless new mysteries which most probably cannot be solved only with the help of science. That is why cosmology as a science successfully combines through times ( from the pre-historic epoch through the Dark Ages, Renaissance, Enlightenment to modern times of the industrial and scientific revolution) elements of religion, art, science and philosophy to grasp fully the true meaning, essence, structure and composition of the God's creation called our universal home.

The cosmic triangle theory eliminates to a certain extent other existing popular models, such as a high-density Universe that is slowing down and will eventually re-collapse annihilating itself because it is full of matter and the attractive force of gravity pulls all matter together, as well as a nearly empty universe with no dark energy at all and low mass which means that it never stops expanding. While the evidence from galactic clusters shows that mass density is low, supernova data for acceleration indicates that dark energy as a cosmological constant must be abundant. This strongly suggests that the standard inflationary scenario is on the right track based on one of its key commonly accepted predictions about a flat universe.

During numerous scientific developments various types of dark energy (this term was coined by cosmologist Michael Turner) have been proposed, including a cosmic field associated with inflation; a different, low-energy field dubbed "quintessence"; and the cosmological constant, or vacuum energy of empty space. Unlike Einstein's famous fudge factor, the cosmological constant in its present incarnation doesn't delicately balance all-attractive gravity in order to maintain a static universe; instead, it has a "negative pressure" that causes expansion to accelerate. Saul Perlmutter, a leader of the Supernova Cosmology Project headquartered at Berkeley Laboratory and one of the initiators of the Beyond Einstein project maintains that dark energy actually fills the cosmos.

Dark Energy

Based on the gravity theory proposed by Einstein space is not an empty void but has some important properties which include that more space can come into existence and that space as such constitutes a cosmological constant possessing its own “inner dark” energy. Because the latter is a property of space itself, it would not be totally diluted as space expands. Based on this premise it is feasible to point out to a proportional correlation between space and such type of energy which cause the Universe to expand ever faster after a certain moment in time. Unfortunately, it is unexplainable using the theory of relativity why this cosmological constant should even exist in reality and possess exactly the right value to cause the observed acceleration of the Universe. In this regard another explanation for how space generates energy is of course associated with the quantum theory of matter. In this theory, "empty space" is actually full of temporary ("virtual") particles that continually form and then disappear (The Higgs particles of visible matter and WIMP particles of the invisible, ”dark” matter). However once physicists attempted to calculate exactly how much energy this would give empty “void” space, the answer came out 10120 times which is unrealistically big. One more explanation for dark energy is that it is a new kind of dynamical energy field which permeates porous cosmic space but whose effect on the expansion of the Universe is quite opposite of that of matter and normal energy. This is named "quintessence," although a mysterious one from the point of its existence and interaction.

Obviously more high quality information and improved data is required to decide between dark energy possibilities and to solve this God's squander. The answers might be provided by The Beyond Einstein Program and the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM) of NASA and the US Department of Energy. Both missions' aims are to understand and analyze an evolution of dark energy in order to determine whether it is a property of empty space or whether it is a dynamic force field that evolves in space and time. This, in turn, may enable cosmologists to predict a continuous expansion of the Universe forever or its likely collapse back upon itself in a Big Crunch someday in a distant future. No doubt, it will also probably help expand our knowledge about the physics of elementary particles on a subatomic level as well as the origin and nature of our Universe.