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Shedding Light On Dark Matter: Scientists Bring Up Alternative Theories To The Universe’s Expansion

Scientists are beginning to break away from the theories of dark matter, as other explanations come into the limelight.

Photo: NASA

By Akerele Christabel

April 17, 2025
2:52 pm
Los Angeles, CA

Dark energy and dark matter are said to account for 95% of the universe. While dark energy which is roughly 70% of the universe pulls galaxies together, dark matter, accounting for 25%, pulls them apart in what seems to be a drawn-out tug of war that has lasted for billions of years. One of the leading theories that gave rise to those of dark matter and dark energy is that empty space itself produces dark energy. In explaining the concept of dark energy, Joshua Frieman, a theoretical astrophysicist said, “If I remove all the particles from the cup of coffee, there is still energy in there due to what we call the quantum vacuum,” he said. This energy of empty space is known as the cosmological constant. It is

One of the leading theories that gave rise to those of dark matter and dark energy is that empty space itself produces dark energy. In explaining the concept of dark energy, Joshua Frieman, a theoretical astrophysicist said,

“If I remove all the particles from the cup of coffee, there is still energy in there due to what we call the quantum vacuum,” he said.

This energy of empty space is known as the cosmological constant. It is the theory used in the standard model of cosmology, Lambda-CDM, which is our science’s best explanation for how the universe works. But in recent years, several scientific results have appeared to support a rival theory—called evolving dark energy—which has brought the standard model into question.

Where things get interesting is that no one has ever seen dark energy and dark matter because they are…dark. They are non-luminous, meaning light can not fall on them. This means, for all our theorizing, we will never see dark matter. They will only exist because science requires a theory, an explanation, for the universe’s outward acceleration. The moment another plausible theory is conceived, dark matter and dark energy might have to leave the spotlight. From the looks of things, that day may come soon.

The Lieu Hypothesis

Physics professor at The University of Alabama, Richard Lieu, published a paper that postulates a universe built on multiple singularities, instead of the Big Bang alone. What this model means is that dark energy and dark matter experts will be put out of business because, the model renders dark energy explanations on the universe’s acceleration and structures irrelevant.

According to Lieu, “This new paper proposes an improved version of the earlier model, which is also radically different. The new model can account for both structure formation and stability, and the key observational properties of the expansion of the universe at large, by enlisting density singularities in time that uniformly affect all space to replace conventional dark matter and dark energy.”

Lieu’s improved model doesn’t rely on exotic phenomena like “negative mass” or “negative density” to work. The theory offers instead the notion that the universe is expanding due to a series of step-like bursts called “transient temporal singularities” that flood the entire cosmos with matter and energy, yet happen so rapidly, they cannot be observed as these singularities wink in and out of existence.

“In the current theory, the conjecture is for matter and energy to appear and disappear in sudden bursts and, interestingly enough, there is no violation of conservation laws. These singularities are unobservable because they occur rarely in time and are unresolvedly fast, and that could be the reason why dark matter and dark energy have not been found. The origin of these temporal singularities is unknown—safe to say that the same is true of the moment of the Big Bang itself.”

These singularities in space in lieu of dark matter also generate something called “negative pressure,” a type of energy density, like that of dark energy, that has a repulsive gravitational effect, causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate.

As he aims to further this research, Lieu says the next step to validating his model of the cosmos could come through observations using earthbound instruments rather than something like the James Webb Space Telescope.

DESI Says Dark Matter Will Evolve

Two ‘fans’ corresponding to the two main areas DESI has observed, above and below the plane of our Milky Way (see this map). DESI is mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. DESI has made the largest 3D map of our Universe to date and uses it to study dark energy. Earth is at the center of the two fans, where bluer points indicate more distant objects. This is a still from an animated rotation of the DESI Year-3 data map. (Photo: NOIRLab)

DESI is an international experiment with more than 900 researchers from over 70 institutions around the world and is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Using millions of galaxies and quasars, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument has built the world’s largest 3D map of the universe. Data from DESI findings, combined by with other discoveries make a strong case for updating the standard model of how the universe works.

“What we are seeing is deeply intriguing,” said Alexie Leauthaud-Harnett, co-spokesperson for DESI and a professor at UC Santa Cruz. “It is exciting to think that we may be on the cusp of a major discovery about dark energy and the fundamental nature of our universe.”

Studied alone, DESI’s data is consistent with Lambda CDM, the standard model of the universe, with CDM being cold dark matter and Lambda being dark energy. However, when juxtaposed with other measurements like the light leftover from the dawn of the universe (the cosmic microwave background or CMB), exploding stars (supernovae), and how light from distant galaxies is warped by gravity (weak lensing), science found that the impact of dark energy may be weakening over time and that it is time for a system’s update.