- #1
MackBowen
- 1
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About a week ago at campus, we had a colloquium on dark energy. I have been studying it some, and a couple of things are bothering me. Perhaps someone can help :)
My worry comes from the idea of uniform energy density. As I understand it, this can be explained either as truly uniform - cosmological constant, or as scalar fields that change slightly. Either explanation seems to have the same two issues.
The first issue is with thermodynamics. If the universe is expanding, and if there is a uniform energy density throughout the universe... this causes issues. The energy has to be coming from somewhere as the volume of the universe increases.
The second one is with relativity. If there is a uniform energy density that permeates the entire universe... well, it seems a lot like the definition of aether to me. It seems that the rest frame of the "dark energy" would be considered a preferred frame of reference, which raises havoc with relativity.I hope someone can clear these issues up for me :)
My worry comes from the idea of uniform energy density. As I understand it, this can be explained either as truly uniform - cosmological constant, or as scalar fields that change slightly. Either explanation seems to have the same two issues.
The first issue is with thermodynamics. If the universe is expanding, and if there is a uniform energy density throughout the universe... this causes issues. The energy has to be coming from somewhere as the volume of the universe increases.
The second one is with relativity. If there is a uniform energy density that permeates the entire universe... well, it seems a lot like the definition of aether to me. It seems that the rest frame of the "dark energy" would be considered a preferred frame of reference, which raises havoc with relativity.I hope someone can clear these issues up for me :)
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