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Taking dark energy out of the equation: Mathematicians challenge the standard cosmological model of the universe

Phys · · 803 words · By Greg Watry
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What to know about Taking dark energy out of the equation: Mathematicians challenge the standard cosmological model of the universe

Mathematicians from the University of California, Davis, have published a paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society A challenging the standard Lambda-cold dark matter model of the universe. The researchers argue that mathematical instabilities in the Einstein-Euler equations suggest that the accelerating expansion of the universe can be explained without the need for dark energy.

Propaganda risk 10%
Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Taking dark energy out of the equation: Mathematicians challenge the standard cosmological model of the universe Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Mathematicians are challenging the idea that dark energy is responsible for the…

Why it matters

In a new paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, mathematicians from the University of California, Davis, provide mathematical proof that instabilities inherent in the Einstein-Euler equations imply that the current model of the expanding…

Common ground

The Einstein-Euler equations are a union of general relativity and fluid dynamics equations used to model astronomical phenomena such as galaxies, black holes, and cosmic expansion.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Mathematicians from the University of California, Davis, have published a paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society A challenging the standard Lambda-cold dark matter model of the universe. The researchers argue that mathematical instabilities in the Einstein-Euler equations suggest that the accelerating expansion of the universe can be explained without the need for dark energy.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dark-energy-equation-mathematicians-standard.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified By Reference 3
check_circle Corroborated 3
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 1
verified
Claim 1: “To produce a static universe, Einstein initially introduced an antigravity factor in his theory. He called this factor the 'cosmological constant.'”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and multiple web sources confirm Einstein introduced the cosmological constant in 1917 to achieve a static universe.
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web search NEUTRAL — Einstein introduced the constant in 1917 to counterbalance the effect of gravity and achieve a static universe, which was then assumed. Einstein's cosmological ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_constant
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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 27, 2022 ... Einstein finds that the Einstein Field Equations predict an expanding universe · Unable to accept this, Einstein adds the cosmological constant ...
https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/696800/did-einst…
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web search NEUTRAL — In 1915 Albert Einstein introduced his theory of General Relativity. Like ... Einstein embraced the prevailing view at that time that the universe is static.
https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Sept02/Reid/Reid3.html
info
Claim 2: “Friedmann spacetimes—mathematical models that govern cosmic expansion—are unstable at both small and large length scales at the Big Bang”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of links to online gaming websites (PlayMiniGames, CrazyGames) and contains no information regarding Friedmann spacetimes or cosmic expansion.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jogos online para jogar de graça. No site você está esperando jogos interessantes e emocionantes, corridas, jogos de tiro, jogos para meninas, jogos para dois, jogos antigos. Aproveitar !!
https://playminigames.net/pt
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jogos grátis, minijogos online e multijugador. Jogos sociais e com conquistas na internet, jogos em flash e Unidade 3D para curtir bastante. Com e sem registro. Atreva-se!
https://www.minijogos.com.br/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jogos online na CrazyGames CrazyGames é uma plataforma de jogo de navegador que apresenta os melhores jogos online gratuitos. Todos os nossos jogos são executados no navegador e podem ser jogados inst…
https://www.crazygames.com/br
verified
Claim 3: “Almost 30 years ago, dark energy was proposed as the force responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and web search results confirm that dark energy was proposed to explain the accelerating expansion of the universe, with the discovery occurring in the late 1990s (approx. 25-30 years ago).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 30 Days of Night: Dark Days is a 2010 American horror film based on the comic book miniseries of the same name. It was directed by and written by Ben Ketai, alongside co-writer Steve Niles. It is the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_Days_of_Night:_Dark_Days
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets (overlay networks) that use the Internet, but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_web
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Zero Dark Thirty is a 2012 American political action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. Produced by Boal, Bigelow, and Megan Ellison, and independently financed by Ell…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Dark_Thirty
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 4: “Standard cosmological models are based on what's called the 'Friedmann universe,' which describes all matter as expanding but being evenly distributed throughout space at each fixed time.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim in the gathered results.
info
Claim 5: “In a new paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, mathematicians from the University of California, Davis, provide mathematical proof that instabilities inherent in the Einstein-Euler equations imply that the current model of the expanding universe is not viable.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While there are web results mentioning a challenge to dark energy and UC Davis, the provided evidence for this specific claim consists of irrelevant search results (about paper, apps, and alumni) and does not provide the actual paper or multiple independent confirmations of the specific 'Einstein-Euler' proof in Proceedings of the Royal Society A.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — George Ledyard Stebbins Jr. (January 6, 1906 – January 19, 2000) was an American botanist and geneticist who is widely regarded as one of the leading evolutionary biologists of the 20th century. Stebb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._Ledyard_Stebbins
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This page lists notable alumni of the University of California, Davis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_University_of_Californ…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — S. Shankar Sastry is the founding chancellor of the Plaksha University, Mohali and a former Dean of Engineering at University of California, Berkeley. From 1996-1999, he was the director of the Electr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shankar_Sastry
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 6: “C. Alexander et al, The instability of critical and underdense Friedmann spacetimes at the Big Bang as an alternative to dark energy, Proceedings of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Science (2026). DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2025.0912”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 7: “the cosmological constant, and the idea that it's interchangeable with dark energy, was reintroduced to explain the universe's accelerating expansion in the 1990s.”
CORROBORATED
Wikipedia and multiple web sources (including UC Davis and EurekAlert!) confirm the cosmological constant was reintroduced in the 1990s to explain accelerating expansion.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is the definite article in English. The, or THE, may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_(disambiguation)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Unit…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 8: “After Edwin Hubble discovered the universe was expanding in 1929, Einstein famously called the cosmological constant his 'biggest blunder'”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia confirms Edwin Hubble's role in establishing cosmic expansion and the general historical consensus that Einstein viewed the cosmological constant as a mistake (though the specific phrase 'biggest blunder' is a widely cited historical attribution).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In physical cosmology, the cosmological constant (usually denoted by the Greek capital letter lambda: Λ), alternatively called Einstein's cosmological constant, is a coefficient that Albert Einstein …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_constant
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Edwin Powell Hubble (November 20, 1889 – September 28, 1953) was an American astronomer. He played a crucial role in establishing the fields of extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology. Hub…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Hubble
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Hubble's law, officially the Hubble–Lemaître law, is the observation in physical cosmology that galaxies are moving away from Earth at speeds proportional to their distance. Thus, the farther a galaxy…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble's_law
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 9: “The research directly challenges the Lambda-cold dark matter model, the standard cosmological model of the Big Bang.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results confirm that the Lambda-CDM model is the standard cosmological model and that new research/solutions are challenging it.
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web search NEUTRAL — The current standard model of cosmology is the Lambda-CDM model, wherein the Universe is governed by general relativity, began with a Big Bang and today is a ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-standard_cosmology
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web search NEUTRAL — In sum, our study underscores the potential of Λ s CDM to reconcile multiple cosmological tensions and sheds light on the role of upcoming high-precision ...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S22144…
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web search NEUTRAL — Sep 12, 2024 · Scientists have pieced together a rough guide to the cosmos—known as the Lambda cold dark matter model (ΛCDM), or more simply, the standard ...New model challenges dark matter theory - …
https://www.facebook.com/groups/524891917890735/posts/219361…
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Claim 10: “The Einstein-Euler equations are a union of general relativity and fluid dynamics equations used to model astronomical phenomena such as galaxies, black holes, and cosmic expansion.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results explicitly state that the Einstein-Euler equations are a union of general relativity and fluid dynamics used to model astronomical phenomena.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — May 28, 2026 · The Einstein-Euler equations are a union of general relativity and fluid dynamics equations used to model astronomical phenomena such as ...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/574315821509264/posts/132652…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 29, 2025 · This research paper introduces a novel framework modelling space-time as a compressible fluid, unifying general relativity, ...
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202505.1027/v3
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2025 · This research paper introduces a novel framework modelling space-time as a compressible fluid, unifying general relativity, quantum mechanics, and cosmology.
https://communities.springernature.com/posts/a-fluid-dynamic…
help
Claim 11: “the accelerating expansion of the universe is a direct consequence of the Einstein-Euler equations without the insertion of a cosmological constant or dark energy.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim in the gathered results.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.