Is dark energy born inside black holes?
UC physicist talks to Scientific American about dark energy mystery
Scientific American turned to a University of Cincinnati physicist to help explain a new theory for why cosmologists say the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate.
An international team of researchers say black holes might explain it. As these dying stars collapse into supermassive black holes, they spew dark energy into the universe, they said in a study published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
UC Assistant Professor Jessie Muir. Photo/Provided
“I view this black hole paper as an interesting entry in this growing canon of people testing out, ‘What if I add these physics — does that reconcile these tensions?’” UC Assistant Professor Jessie Muir told Scientific American.
Muir was not a co-author of the paper but studies dark energy as part of an international collaboration that examines fundamental issues relating to the distribution of matter in the universe.
Researchers based their theory on data collected from Arizona's Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument.
The theory would help explain the discrepancy in the cosmological constant postulated by Albert Einstein in his general relativity equation that says the energy density of space is constant and intrinsic.
“It is interesting that this can fit the data,” Muir told Scientific American. “It is a point in favor of maybe this being not a thing to dismiss.”
Read the Scientific American story.
Featured image at top: A gas cloud in the Orion Nebula as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Photo/G. Bacon, L. Frattare, Z. Levay and F. Summers/NASA
Related Stories
UC launches Bearcats Affordability Grant
January 7, 2026
The University of Cincinnati is making college more attainable for students across Ohio with the creation of the Bearcats Affordability Grant. The new grant will provide a pathway to tuition-free college for students of families who make less than $75,000 per year. Beginning in fall 2026, the Bearcats Affordability Grant will cover the remaining cost of tuition for Ohio residents who are Pell eligible.
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.