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Dark Matter and Dark Energy: A Slow Reaction ⚡ экспресс

Original: "A microphysically inspired approach to dark matter-dark energy interactions: first bounds on dark-sector scattering cross sections"
arXiv:2601.05646v2 · 2026-01-09 · CC BY · ⏱ 1 min · Cosmology
Scientists described the transformation of dark matter and dark energy as a reversible chemical reaction resulting from collision physics.
Abstract

In the new model, the interaction between dark matter and dark energy is not based on general assumptions but on actual particle collision processes, akin to a reversible chemical reaction. Analysis of the latest cosmological data (Pantheon Plus, DESI DR2, etc.) yields a Hubble constant H₀ = 67.71 ± 0.65 km/s/Mpc, consistent with classical estimates. The interaction turns out to be extremely weak: for instance, the dimensionless self-interaction coefficient of dark matter, A, is constrained to be less than 7.6×10⁻²⁵. This suggests that if the dark components do communicate, they do so very reluctantly.

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The Universe is expanding, and the rate of this expansion is a matter of debate. Edwin Hubble discovered the expansion nearly a hundred years ago, but modern measurements yield different values. The key to the puzzle may lie in the interaction between dark matter and dark energy — they make up 95% of the cosmos. A new model depicts them as substances that can transform into each other, like a reversible chemical reaction.

Scientists applied the Ludwig Boltzmann equation (which usually describes the collision frequency of atoms) to the dark sector. It showed that transitions between matter and energy are a natural consequence of particle physics, not an artificial fudge. Testing against telescope data confirmed agreement with observations and gave an expansion rate of 67.7 (the Hubble constant).

It turned out that the transformation frequency is negligible: over 13.8 billion years, the entire visible Universe could have seen no more than a couple of thousand events. This rarity explains why we don't notice them, and sets strict limits for future theories.

🎯 If such a process ran at the maximum allowed rate, there would still have been only a few thousand transformations in the entire visible Universe since the Big Bang.

Scientists
Alan GuthAndrei LindeGeorges LemaîtreJames PeeblesAdam RiessBrian Schmidt
Tags
dark energy dark matter expansion of the universe
Laws
Friedmann equationsHubble's lawgravitational lensingvirial theorem
Original: arXiv:2601.05646v2 · CC BY · bridge42worlds