From thermomass energy to dark energy: Re-exploration to the origin of dark energy

Abstract

Dark energy constitutes 68% of the matter of our universe, which has been successfully used in the standard cosmological model to explain the phenomenon of cosmic acceleration. However, the scholars still have different opinions in the origin of dark energy, making it one of the most important unsolved problems in the modern cosmology. There are several candidates to explain the origin of dark energy, such as vacuum energy, scalar field theory, light pressure, etc. However, all these models are still in debate and we are far from a commonly agreed theory to understand the true nature of dark energy. In this report, we intend to re-explore some fundamental properties and the origin of dark energy from the perspective of thermomass theory in the framework of energy conservation principle. Thermomass theory is a newly developed theory in the field of heat transfer, including some new physical quantities, such as thermomass, thermomass velocity, thermomass energy, etc. Thermomass is the relativistic mass of heat and thermomass energy is the relativistic energy. Based on the thermomass theory, the heat transfer can be understood as the direct flow of thermomass under a certain temperature gradient. Then the principle of fluid mechanics can be used to solve the heat transfer problems and a general heat conduction law has been established. Some non-Fourier heat transfer phenomena under the extreme conditions, such as ultrafast laser heating, ultrahigh heat flux at nanoscales, can be well explained by using the general heat conduction law. Meanwhile, a simplified expression of thermomass energy was defined as entransy. Guided by a minimum entransy dissipation principle, the structure of a complicated heat exchanger network can be optimized to increase the energy efficiency. Both the general heat conduction law and entransy model have been experimentally validated. The thermomass theory have been widely accepted and applied in the field of thermal science. But a question still remains: The thermomass energy dissipates during the heat transfer process, where does it go? Actually, we find an answer that the dissipated thermomass energy is closely related with the dark energy. Under the normal temperature and pressure conditions, the order of magnitude of thermomass and its energy is much smaller than that of the static mass and its energy. In the beginning of the Big Bang, the temperature exceeds 1015°C and the thermomass energy equals to or even is larger than the energy of static mass. According to the energy conservation principle, the energy at high level, i.e., electrical energy, optical energy, mechanical energy, etc., will dissipate into the energy at low level, i.e., heat. But in the heat transfer process, heat (thermomass) is conserved, while the thermomass energy will dissipate into a lower level, “invisible” energy. This kind of energy has four features: Filling the whole space, ultra-low energy density, negative pressure and gradually accumulated with time. All these features are in consistence with the performance of dark energy. Hence, we hypothesize that the dark energy comes from the dissipated thermomass energy, which is the motivating force of the cosmic acceleration and forms the main body of our universe.