Local Dark Energy Research Articles

Geometrization of light bending and its application to SdS w spacetime

The mysterious dark energy remains one of the greatest puzzles of modern science. Current detections for it are mostly indirect. The spacetime effects of dark energy can be locally described by the SdS w metric. Understanding these local effects exactly is an essential step toward the direct probe of dark energy. From first principles, we prove that dark energy can exert a repulsive dark force on astrophysical scales, different from the Newtonian attraction of both visible and dark matter. One way of measuring local effects of dark energy is through the gravitational deflection of light. We geometrize the bending of light in any curved static spacetime. First of all, we define a generalized deflection angle, referred to as the Gaussian deflection angle, in a mathematically strict and conceptually clean way. Basing on the Gauss–Bonnet theorem, we then prove that the Gaussian deflection angle is equivalent to the surface integral of the Gaussian curvature over a chosen lensing patch. As an application of the geometrization, we study the problem of whether dark energy affects the bending of light and provide a strict solution to this problem in the SdS w spacetime. According to this solution, we propose a method to overcome the difficulty of measuring local dark energy effects. Exactly speaking, we find that the lensing effect of dark energy can be enhanced by 14 orders of magnitude when properly choosing the lensing patch in certain cases. It means that we can probe the existence and nature of dark energy directly in our Solar System. This points to an exciting direction to help unraveling the great mystery of dark energy.

Local dark energy in the Sculptor Filament of galaxies

Two dozens of different mass galaxies observed at distances less than 10 Mpc from the Local Group are organized in the elongated structure known as the Sculptor Filament. We use recent Hubble Space Telescope data on local galaxies to study the dynamical structure and evolutionary trends of the filament. An N-body computer model, which reproduces its observed kinematics, is constructed under the assumption that the filament is embedded in the universal dark energy background. In the model, the motions of the filament members are controlled by their mutual gravity attraction force and the anti-gravity repulsion force produced by the local dark energy. It is found that the dark energy repulsion dominates the force field of the outer parts of the filament. Because of this, the filament expands and its expansion proceeds with acceleration. The dark energy domination increases with cosmic time and introduces to the filament the linear velocity--distance relation with the universal time-rate ("the Hubble constant") that depends asymptotically on the dark energy density only.

Dark energy domination in the local flow of giant galaxies

A dozen most luminous galaxies at distances up to 10 Mpc from the Local Group are moving away from the group forming the local expansion flow of giants. We use recent Hubble Space Telescope data on the local giants and their numerous fainter companions to study the dynamical structure and evolutionary trends of the flow. It is demonstrated that the dynamics of the flow is dominated by local dark energy. Keywords: Galaxies, groups and clusters of galaxies; local flows of galaxies; dark energy.

Dark energy in systems of galaxies

The precise observational data of the Hubble Space Telescope have been used to study nearby galaxy systems. The main result is the detection of dark energy in groups, clusters, and flows of galaxies on a spatial scale of about 1–10 Mpc. The local density of dark energy in these systems, which is determined by various methods, is close to the global value or even coincides with it. A theoretical model of the nearby Universe has been constructed, which describes the Local Group of galaxies with the flow of dwarf galaxies receding from this system. The key physical parameter of the group-flow system is zero gravity radius, which is the distance at which the gravity of dark matter is compensated by dark-energy antigravity. The model predicts the existence of local regions of space where Einstein antigravity is stronger than Newton gravity. Six such regions have been revealed in the data of the Hubble space telescope. The nearest of these regions is at a distance of 1–3 Mpc from the center of the Milky Way. Antigravity in this region is several times stronger than gravity. Quasiregular flows of receding galaxies, which are accelerated by the dark-energy antigravity, exist in these regions. The model of the nearby Universe at the scale of groups of galaxies (∼1 Mpc) can be extended to the scale of clusters (∼10 Mpc). The systems of galaxies with accelerated receding flows constitute a new and probably widespread class of metagalactic populations. Strong dynamic effects of local dark energy constitute the main characteristic feature of these systems.

The Hubble diagram for a system within dark energy: the location of the zero-gravity radius and the global Hubble rate

Here we continue to discuss the principle of the local measurement of dark energy using the normalized Hubble diagram describing the environment of a system of galaxies. We calculate the present locus of test particles injected a fixed time ago (\sim the age of the universe), in the standard \Lambda -cosmology and for different values of the system parameters (the model includes a central point mass M and a local dark energy density \rho_{loc}) and discuss the position of the zero-gravity distance R_v in the Hubble diagram. Our main conclusions are: 1) When the local DE density \rho_{loc} is equal to the global DE density \rho_v, the outflow reaches the global Hubble rate at the distance R_2 = (1+z_v)R_v, where z_v is the global zero-acceleration redshift (\approx 0.7 for the standard model). This is also the radius of the ideal Einstein-Straus vacuole. 2) For a wide range of the local-to-global dark energy ratio \rho_{loc}/\rho_v, the local flow reaches the known global rate (the Hubble constant) at a distance R_2 \ga 1.5 \times R_v. Hence, R_v will be between R_2/2 and R_2, giving upper and lower limits to \rho_{loc}/M. For the Local Group, this supports the view that the local density is near the global one.

On the use of black hole binaries as probes of local dark energy properties

Accretion of dark energy onto black holes will take place when dark energy is not a cosmological constant. It has been proposed that the time evolution of the mass of the black holes in binary systems due to dark energy accretion could be detectable by gravitational radiation. This would make it possible to use observations of black hole binaries to measure local dark energy properties, e.g., to determine the sign of 1 + w where w is the dark energy equation of state. In this Letter we show that such measurements are unfeasible due to the low accretion rates.

Local dark matter and dark energy as estimated on a scale of ~1 Mpc in a self-consistent way

Context. Dark energy was first detected from large distances on gigaparsec scales. If it is vacuum energy (or Einstein’s Λ), it should also exist in very local space. Here we discuss its measurement on megaparsec scales of the Local Group. Aims. We combine the modified Kahn-Woltjer method for the Milky Way-M 31 binary and the HST observations of the expansion flow around the Local Group in order to study in a self-consistent way and simultaneously the local density of dark energy and the dark matter mass contained within the Local Group. Methods. A theoretical model is used that accounts for the dynamical effects of dark energy on a scale of ∼ 1M pc. Results. The local dark energy density is put into the range 0.8−3.7ρv (ρv is the globally measured density), and the Local Group mass lies within 3.1−5.8 × 10 12 M� . The lower limit of the local dark energy density, about 4/5× the global value, is determined by the natural binding condition for the group binary and the maximal zero-gravity radius. The near coincidence of two values measured

Local dark energy: HST evidence from the expansion flow around Cen A/M83 galaxy group

A structure with a massive group in its centre and a cool expansion outflow outside is studied around the Cen A galaxy with the use of the Hubble Space Telescope observations. It is demonstrated that the dynamics of the flow is dominated by the antigravity of the dark energy background. The density of dark energy in the area is estimated to be near the global cosmological density. This agrees with previous results from the neighbourhood of the Local Group. A notion of the ‘Hubble cell’ is introduced as a building block of the local structure of the universe.

Local dark energy: HST evidence from the vicinity of the M81/M82 galaxy group

The Hubble Space Telescope observations of the nearby galaxy group M81/M82 and its vicinity indicate that the dynamics of the expansion outflow around the group is dominated by the antigravity of the dark energy background. The local density of dark energy in the area is estimated to be near the global dark energy density or perhaps exactly equal to it. This conclusion agrees well with our previous results for the Local Group vicinity and the vicinity of the Cen A/M83 group.