The current theoretical model for the composition of the universe is that it consists of ordinary matter, dark energy, and dark matter. A new study from the University of Ottawa questions this. A study published today Astrophysical JournalIt challenges the current model of the universe by showing that there is actually no room for dark matter in the universe.

In cosmology, the term “dark matter” describes anything that does not interact with light or the electromagnetic field, or can only be explained by the gravitational force. We can’t see it and we don’t know what it’s made of, but it helps us understand how galaxies, planets and stars behave.

Rajendra Gupta, professor of physics in the Faculty of Science, used a combination of covariant coupling constant (CCC) and tired light (TL) theories (CCC+TL model) to reach this conclusion. This model combines two ideas about how forces in nature diminish over cosmic time and how light energy is lost as it travels long distances. It has been tested and shown to match various observations, such as how galaxies are dispersed and how light evolved from the early universe.

This discovery challenges the general understanding of the universe, which holds that approximately 27 percent of the universe consists of dark matter, with less than 5 percent of ordinary matter remaining as dark energy.

Rejecting the need for dark matter in the universe

“The results of the study confirm that our previous work (JWST Early Universe Observations and ΛCDM Cosmology) on the age of the universe of 26.7 billion years allowed us to find that the universe does not need dark matter to exist,” explains Gupta.

“Standard cosmology says that the rapid expansion of the universe is due to dark energy, but in fact it is not due to dark energy but to the weakening of the forces of nature during the expansion.”

“Redshift” means that light shifts to the red part of the spectrum. The researcher analyzed data from recent studies in the literature on the distribution of galaxies at low redshift and the angular size of the sound horizon at high redshift.

“There are many papers questioning the existence of dark matter, but mine is, to my knowledge, the first paper that rules out its cosmological existence but is consistent with important cosmological observations that we can confirm,” Gupta says.

This work opens new avenues to investigate fundamental properties of the universe, rejecting the need for dark matter in the universe and providing evidence for a new cosmological model.