Researchers from the University of Cambridge have discovered a new way to measure dark energy – the mysterious force that makes up more than two-thirds of the universe and is responsible for its accelerating expansion – in our own cosmic backyard. The researchers found that it may be possible to
Researchers have discovered a method to potentially detect and measure dark energy by examining the motion between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. This technique, still in its early stages, can estimate the upper value of the cosmological constant, a simple model of dark energy, which is five times higher than values determined from the early universe.
“Dark energy is a general name for a family of models you could add to Einstein’s theory of gravity,” said first author Dr. David Benisty from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. “The simplest version of this is known as the cosmological constant: a constant energy density that pushes galaxies away from each other.”
However, there is one region of the universe that is surprisingly sensitive to dark energy, and it’s in our own cosmic backyard. The Andromeda galaxy is the closest to our own Milky Way, and the two galaxies are on a collision course. As they draw closer, the two galaxies will start to orbit each other – very slowly. A single orbit will take 20 billion years.
“Dark energy affects every pair of galaxies: gravity wants to pull galaxies together, while dark energy pushes them apart,” said Benisty. “In our model, if we change the value of the cosmological constant, we can see how that changes the orbit of the two galaxies. Based on their mass, we can place an upper bound on the cosmological constant, which is about five times higher than we can measure from the rest of the universe.
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