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Dark bubble and microcosm: gravity at millionths of a meter ⚡ экспресс

Original: "Dark bubbles, dark dimensions and fat gravitons"
· Ulf Danielsson, Suvendu Giri
arXiv:2606.20942 · 2026-06-18 · CC BY 4.0 · ⏱ 1 min · HEP Theory Cosmology General Relativity
A new model explains the accelerated expansion of the Universe using a hidden dimension the size of a micron.
Abstract

The dark bubble model explains the accelerating expansion of the universe (positive cosmological constant) through instabilities from swampland conjectures of de Sitter space. It predicts a tiny extra dimension of micron size ('dark dimension'), where gravity begins to weaken—the 'fat graviton' effect. The model also points to a string scale on the order of tens of TeV and a measurable positive spatial curvature. This elegantly links cosmology to microphysics and can be tested experimentally.

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The Universe behaves like a soap bubble swelling in a multidimensional foam. The dark bubble model explains why it's expanding ever faster: the spacetime bubble grows, and its membrane gains a tiny thickness — about a micron, like a bacterium. At such distances, gravity 'blurs' across this thickness and weakens.

We can test this by measuring the attraction between microscopic particles. At a distance of a micron, the force would be a couple of percent weaker than Newton's textbook law predicts. This weakening is inextricably linked to the accelerated expansion of the cosmos — both are manifestations of the same phenomenon. The model also points to a slight curvature of space, which astronomers hope to detect.

A micron is a hundred times thinner than a human hair. Perhaps that's where an extra dimension hides, eluding our instruments.

🎯 A micron (one millionth of a meter) is the typical size of a bacterium. If such a dimension existed, it would literally be under our microscope.

Scientists
Alan GuthAndrei LindeGeorges LemaîtreJames PeeblesAdam RiessBrian Schmidt
Tags
dark energy expansion of the universe spacetime curvature
Laws
Friedmann equationsHubble's lawequivalence principleLense–Thirring effectUnruh effectAdS/CFT correspondence
Original: arXiv:2606.20942 · CC BY 4.0 · bridge42worlds