Canceling dark energy: supporters of the idea of ​​a heterogeneous Universe have proven its heterogeneity

A special case of Einstein’s equations from the general theory of relativity were Friedman’s conclusions about the homogeneity of our Universe. It is the same and evenly filled with matter in all directions throughout its entire length, which has been proven by scientists. But a quarter of a century ago, signs of the accelerated expansion of the Universe were discovered, which had no explanation within the framework of official cosmology and dark energy had to be invented. But dark energy has an alternative, and it has been confirmed.

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Published at the end of December 2024 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters, the work of a group of scientists, led by astrophysicist Antonia Seifert from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, collected evidence of an alternative nature of our Universe, namely that it is, on the contrary, , very heterogeneous. However, Einstein’s general theory of relativity does not suffer from this at all. But if the data collected by the group is confirmed by independent teams, this will turn science’s understanding of the structure of the Universe upside down, or even vice versa, put it on its feet, making unnecessary, for example, such a “crutch” as dark energy.

The fundamentals of a theoretical justification for the heterogeneity of the Universe were proposed in 2007 by a number of scientists, including David Wiltshire. We add that Wiltshire is declared as a co-author of a new work that proves he is right, so an independent analysis of the data presented must be carried out. In his view, as the Universe developed, matter grouped into superclusters, which were sufficient for clusters and voids to have significant local effects on space-time.

Within the framework of the modern cosmological model of the Universe (ΛCDM, lambda or cosmological constant plus cold and dark matter), light spreads evenly and equally efficiently throughout the Universe throughout its entire length. Within the framework of the Wiltshire timescape cosmological model, the internal clock of the Universe ticks slower near gravitational holes (accumulations of matter) and faster in voids. Everything is as Albert Einstein bequeathed in the special theory of relativity. People living on the upper floors will age faster than those living on the ground floor, although this difference will be calculated in minutes or even seconds over their lifetime. But for the Universe, with its distances and mass distribution, this can be decisive.

Seifert’s group analyzed the latest and most complete observations of Type Ia supernovae using Pantheon+ data and said the findings are consistent with a model of the Universe that cannot be considered homogeneous, which also suggests that dark energy is unnecessary.

«These results indicate the need to reconsider the foundations of theoretical and observational cosmology,” they report in their paper.

Type Ia supernovae are one of the standard luminaries whose brightness is known, which makes it possible to accurately determine the distance to them. It was by measuring the distances to such supernovae in 1998 that it was determined that the Universe is expanding rapidly, which required the introduction of the concept of dark energy. New work shows that we are dealing with an illusion. Due to the effects of space-time distortion, we misjudge the distances to supernovae and make them appear further away than they really are (which also means they are supposedly moving faster). In fact, the Universe may even be contracting rather than expanding if we begin to delve into the process from the standpoint of the “time landscape” theory.

«Looking at the entire Pantheon+ sample, we find very strong evidence in favor of timescape over ΛCDM,” Seifert et al.