Cosmic constants may explain away dark matter and dark energy
Rajendra Gupta, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physics, suggests that if the strengths of forces like gravity vary over time and across space, the resulting effects could mimic both dark matter and dark energy. "The universe's forces actually get weaker on the average as it expands," Gupta explains. "This weakening makes it look like there's a mysterious push making the universe expand faster. However, at galactic scale, the variation of these forces results in extra gravity - which has been mistaken for dark matter."
He adds, "There are two very different phenomena needed to be explained by dark matter and dark energy: one on cosmological scales and one on astrophysical scales. In the standard model, they require different equations. Ours is the only one that explains both with the same equation, and without needing dark matter or dark energy."
According to Gupta, this unified approach can reproduce key astronomical observations - such as galaxy rotation, clustering, and gravitational lensing - without invoking invisible matter or energy. "It's all just the result of the constants of nature varying as the universe ages and becomes lumpy," he says.
Building on earlier work that questioned the need for dark matter at cosmological scales, Gupta applied his new model to galaxy rotation curves. In this formulation, a parameter known as a arises from evolving coupling constants, acting like an additional term in the gravitational equations. This term produces the same gravitational effects usually attributed to dark matter halos, depending on the distribution of ordinary matter.
Where matter density is high, the additional gravity is weaker; where it is sparse, it becomes stronger - precisely the pattern observed in galaxies with "flat rotation curves." The model thus explains how stars in the outer regions of galaxies can move faster than classical physics predicts.
Gupta believes this framework could address longstanding astrophysical puzzles, including how massive galaxies and black holes formed so early in the universe's history. "With our model, you don't need to assume any exotic particles or break the rules of physics," he notes. "The timeline of the universe simply stretches out, almost doubling its age, and making room for everything we observe."
If proven correct, the theory could render decades of dark matter searches obsolete. "Sometimes, the simplest explanation is the best one," Gupta concludes. "Maybe the universe's biggest secrets are just tricks played by the evolving constants of nature."
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