What is driving the expansion of the universe?

Answer 1

Although it is a hot topic of debate, some scientists postulate that the mysterious force behing the universes expansion is Dark Energy, which we don't know much about at all; hence the name (dark) is used to conceal our ignorance.

Answer 2

It is generally believed that the expansion of the universe is the result of the initial "explosion" of the Big Bang -- the matter created then is still being propelled outwards in all directions.

The above statement is simply false. The Big Bang was NOT an explosion of of matter into empty space, with matter then being propelled outward in all directions. Instead, the BB was an EXPANSION of space itself, in which matter was "taken along for the ride." And this expansion of space is not "into" anything -- the space in our Universe is simply expanding, period. There is no "outward" from which anything is coming from, and no "there" anything is going into.

We do not know -- indeed, we can not know -- of the nature of our Universe beyond our event horizon of about 46 billion light years away from us. That other part may be infinite, or "only" 10^21 times bigger than what we can see. So it is not correct to say "the Universe was once as small as a proton," it is only correct to say, "that part of the Universe that we can now see was once as small as a proton." The entirety of our Universe may always have been infinite, even as it started to expand.

There were three scenarios for this expansion based on the amount of material in the universes compared to the amount of material necessary to cause gravity to finally pull everything back together again.

Scenario one assumes there is sufficient material in the universe that gravity, acting between every galaxy, every star, every subatomic particle will finally overcome the original expansion and bring all the material together again in the "Big Crunch". What would happen after that is anyone's guess. The universe could swallow itself into some kind of black hole and be gone forever, or it could bounce back as another big bang and oscillate back and forth for all eternity.

Scenario two is the "Big Chill" in which there is not enough material in the universe for gravity to overcome the impetus of the big bang. Expansion would then continue forever with the universe getting larger and larger, dimmer and dimmer, and colder and colder until it finally dies in the deep freeze of absolute (or near absolute) zero.

Scenario three postulates a "Flat Universe". In a flat universe, the amount of material in the universe is just enough for gravity to slow the expansion, but never quite stop it completely.

The ratio of the amount of material in the universe to the amount of material necessary to balance gravity is called omega and is the subject of much discussion and controversy.

Answer 3

Answer: There is a mysterious force but it is stabilizing , not expanding the universe. The "Dark Energy" of the universe is cP = cmV, the vector energy of matter. Any matter that is moving has momentum mV and energy cmV. The "anti-gravity" force that " is the vector derivative of the vector energy, Del.cP = - cmDel.V= - cmv/r cos(V)= - ma cos(V)!

This is the centrifugal force that balances the centripetal force mv2/r of gravity.

mv2/r = mcv/r cos(V), this gives

v/c = cos(V) this is the redshift that is being mis-interpreted by all EXCEPT HUBBLE. The force is not mysterious, it is the vector energy of motion and the derivative of the vector energy is a force. The vector derivative is called the Divergence , -cDel.P and the Curl cDelxP. The curl is responsible for the rotation around the sun and the divergence keeps the earth from falling into the sun due to the centripetal force mv2/r = mv2/ct.

Newton's Theory of Gravitational Energy should be revised by adding the vector energy, cP:

E = -mGM/r + cmV = - mu/r + cP, this is a Quaternion Energy!

Next there needs to be a Quaternion Derivative X = d/dr + Del, then Newton's Laws are:

Force = XE = [d/dr, DEL] [-mu/r, mcV]

Force F = [mu/r2 - mcDel.V, cmdV/dr - Del mu/r + mcDelxV]

The scalar force is mv2/r - mcDel.V = mv2/r - mcv/r cos(V).

At Continuity Condition, mv2/r = mcDel.V, and v/c= cos(V)

The redshift indicates Continuity NOT expansion. There is no mysterious force and no expansion, there is a need for a Quaternion Theory of Gravity.

Answer: It has been observed that the expansion of the Universe accelerates; the cause for this is not known, but a mysterious "dark energy" is said to be the reason.

Answer 4

This is not currently known. It is assumed that some mysterious substance called "dark energy" drives the expansion, but the details are still quite mysterious. Read the Wikipedia article on "dark energy" for more details.

Answer 5

Wherever we look, galaxies in every direction are receding from us,

and the farther any galaxy is from us now, the faster it's receding.

Answer 6

Dark Energy