The cracks in cosmology: Why our Universe doesn’t add up

The cracks in cosmology: Why our Universe doesn’t add up

by Marcus Chown

“The ‘standard model of cosmology’ is an admission of ignorance,” admits Prof Abraham Loeb of Harvard University.

“We label components whose nature we don’t know as ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’. Since we don’t know what they are, it’s a very crude model that could easily be an oversimplification of reality.”

Loeb points out that dark matter might not be a fluid of one type of dark matter particle. “There may not be a single dark matter particle but rather a mix of particles of different masses and interactions,” he says. Dark matter could be complex, just like ordinary matter, which is composed of quarks and electrons that are assembled into 92 naturally occurring elements.

The standard model of cosmology is relatively simple, despite its multiple invisible components. But its simplicity may be blinding us to reality, which may be more complex. “Nature,” cautions Loeb, “is under no obligation to comply with the simplest version.”