Public release date: 8-Mar-2006
Contact: Claire Bowles(London)
44-207-611-1210 Kyre Austin (Boston)
617-558-4939
New Scientist

Dark energy and dark matter, two of the greatest mysteries confronting physicists, may be two sides of the same coin. A new and as yet undiscovered kind of star could explain both phenomena and, in turn, remove black holes from the lexicon of cosmology. The audacious idea comes from George Chapline, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, and Nobel laureate Robert Laughlin of Stanford University and their colleagues. Last week at the 22nd Pacific Coast Gravity Meeting in Santa Barbara, California, Chapline suggested that the objects that till now have been thought of as black holes could in fact be dead stars that form as a result of an obscure quantum phenomenon. These stars could explain both dark energy and dark matter.

This radical suggestion would get round some fundamental problems posed by the existence of black holes. One such problem arises from the idea that once matter crosses a black hole's event horizon – the point beyond which not even light can escape – it will be destroyed by the spacetime "singularity" at the centre of the black hole. Because information about the matter is lost forever, this conflicts with the laws of quantum mechanics, which state that information can never disappear from the universe.

Another problem is that light from an object falling into a black hole is stretched so dramatically by the immense gravity there that observers outside will see time freeze: the object will appear to sit at the event horizon for ever. This freezing of time also violates quantum mechanics. "People have been vaguely uncomfortable about these problems for a while, but they figured they'd get solved someday," says Chapline. "But that hasn't happened and I'm sure when historians look back, they'll wonder why people didn't question these contradictions."

While looking for ways to avoid these physical paradoxes, Chapline and Laughlin found some answers in an unrelated phenomenon: the bizarre behaviour of superconducting crystals as they go through something called "quantum critical phase transition" (New Scientist, 28 January, p 40). During this transition, the spin of the electrons in the crystals is predicted to fluctuate wildly, but this prediction is not borne out by observation. Instead, the fluctuations appear to slow down, and even become still, as if time itself has slowed down. "That was when we had our epiphany," Chapline says. He and Laughlin realised that if a quantum critical phase transition happened on the surface of a star, it would slow down time and the surface would behave just like a black hole's event horizon. Quantum mechanics would not be violated because in this scenario time would never freeze entirely. "We start with effects actually seen in the lab, which I think gives it more credibility than black holes," says Chapline.

With this idea in mind, they – along with Emil Mottola at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, Pawel Mazur of the University of South Carolina in Columbia and colleagues – analysed the collapse of massive stars in a way that did not allow any violation of quantum mechanics. Sure enough, in place of black holes their analysis predicts a phase transition that creates a thin quantum critical shell. The size of this shell is determined by the star's mass and, crucially, does not contain a space-time singularity. Instead, the shell contains a vacuum, just like the energy-containing vacuum of free space. As the star's mass collapses through the shell, it is converted to energy that contributes to the energy of the vacuum.

The team's calculations show that the vacuum energy inside the shell has a powerful anti-gravity effect, just like the dark energy that appears to be causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate. Chapline has dubbed the objects produced this way "dark energy stars". Though this anti-gravity effect might be expected to blow the star's shell apart, calculations by Francisco Lobo of the University of Lisbon in Portugal have shown that stable dark energy stars can exist for a number of different models of vacuum energy. What's more, these stable stars would have shells that lie near the region where a black hole's event horizon would form (Classical Quantum Gravity, vol 23, p 1525).

"Dark energy stars and black holes would have identical external geometries, so it will be very difficult to tell them apart," Lobo says. "All observations used as evidence for black holes – their gravitational pull on objects and the formation of accretion discs of matter around them – could also work as evidence for dark energy stars." That does not mean they are completely indistinguishable. While black holes supposedly swallow anything that gets past the event horizon, quantum critical shells are a two-way street, Chapline says. Matter crossing the shell decays, and the anti-gravity should spit some of the remnants back out again. Also, quark particles crossing the shell should decay by releasing positrons and gamma rays, which would pop out of the surface.

This could explain the excess positrons that are seen at the centre of our galaxy, around the region that was hitherto thought to harbour a massive black hole. Conventional models cannot adequately explain these positrons, Chapline says. He and his colleagues have also calculated the energy spectrum of the released gamma rays. "It is very similar to the spectrum observed in gamma-ray bursts," says Chapline. The team also predicts that matter falling into a dark energy star will heat up the star, causing it to emit infrared radiation. "As telescopes improve over the next decade, we'll be able to search for this light," says Chapline. "This is a theory that should be proved one way or the other in five to ten years."

Black hole expert Marek Abramowicz at Gothenburg University in Sweden agrees that the idea of dark energy stars is worth pursuing. "We really don't have proof that black holes exist," he says. "This is a very interesting alternative." The most intriguing fallout from this idea has to do with the strength of the vacuum energy inside the dark energy star. This energy is related to the star's size, and for a star as big as our universe the calculated vacuum energy inside its shell matches the value of dark energy seen in the universe today. "It's like we are living inside a giant dark energy star," Chapline says. There is, of course, no explanation yet for how a universe-sized star could come into being.

At the other end of the size scale, small versions of these stars could explain dark matter. "The big bang would have created zillions of tiny dark energy stars out of the vacuum," says Chapline, who worked on this idea with Mazur. "Our universe is pervaded by dark energy, with tiny dark energy stars peppered across it." These small dark energy stars would behave just like dark matter particles: their gravity would tug on the matter around them, but they would otherwise be invisible. Abramowicz says we know too little about dark energy and dark matter to judge Chapline and Laughlin's idea, but he is not dismissing it out of hand. "At the very least we can say the idea isn't impossible."

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Nobel Laureate Robert Laughlin Stanford University LAM, Room 342 McCullough Bldg 476 Lomita Mall Stanford CA 94305-4045 tel 650-723-4563 fax 650-723-9389

Figure 11 Brane Theory Strings On Holographic Brane
Professor Lisa Randall, Ph.D.
Harvard University
Department of Physics
Cambridge, MA, USA

Explanation of Holographic
Nature of Brane Theory

The Brane Theory an interesting article by Dr. Lisa Randall PHD. Is it possibile that our universe is actually a membrane supported by a multidimensions mechanism or a sort of holographic projection. In this idea of the universe as existing inside the event horizon of a black hole our reality is a sort of 2 dimensional holographic projection supported by the singularity

Figure 12-Speculation On Power Source
14 Times Greater Than Universe

Nearby Power Source With 14 Times
Energy of Our Universe

One recent article in August 2005-Discover Magazine on the String Theory explains that scientist have located a large power source with 14 times the energy and mass of our entire universe and wondered what this mysterious "Borgian" entity is? If our universe is inside a black hole it is possible that the large nearby energy source being cited in actually a large companion star which exist beyond the "Event Horizon"

Citing Hugh Senior Member
At Professor Michau Kaku Forums
On Structure of Space
& Blackholes/Wormholes
Press To Enlarge

Is Space 3 Dimensional?

This link asks an interesting question as to wheather space is 3 dimensional which is answered at the Professor Michio Kaku discussion forums

Strings as Electric Rubber Bands Dr. Green @ Elegant Universe-At Nova The Elegant Universe & String Theory Professor Brian Green appears at Nova and does an extensive review of his book The Elegant Universe. An indepth review of the string theory which is online and was features on PBS and Nova. The Photo above shows the string as an electric rubber band. For those of interested in the string theory this is an excellent place to begin our research. Wave Packet of Electron Professor Carols R Stroud Jr. The Institute of Optics University of Rochester Wilmot 312 275 Hutchison Rd Rochester, NY 14627-0186 (585) 275-2598 Fax: (585) 244-4936 The Wave Packet Theory Link to Page 2 This link goes to page two on the string theory; wave packet theory of matter and other questions in physics

Professor Michio Kaku On Discovery Channel Sunday Jan 28, 1006 8PM Academic Discussions Link to Page 3 This link are replies from various parties on our academic endeavors. Citation of Authority Academic Exemption & Disclaimer Title 17 USC 107 Fairuse Exception This is an educational activity involving academic research as defined by Title 17 USC Sec. 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use and citation of authorities and use of photos is permitted by statute. Chris Walters is a layman doing some theorizing based on information which is published by noted and highly respected Physics Professors which are cited below. If all the ideas and theories are wrong or not correctly presented it is obviously the fault of the author who shrugs and like everyone else moves on and says nothing ventured nothing gained

Superstring Theory From Hyperspace By Professor Michio Kaku Visit Online Discussion Forums

Professor Michio Kaku Professor, Henry Semat Chair City College of New York Physics Marshak Science Building J-419 160 Convent Avenue New York, New York 10031 USA 212 650-6832 FAX: 212 650-6940

Three Roads To Quantum Gravity

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Professor Lee Smolins 31 Caroline Street North Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5 519) 569-7600 x7641

Supersymetry & Particle Garden By Professor Gordon Kane Director of University of Center for Theoritical Physics Office: 3464 Randall Lab Phone: (734) 764-4451 Fax: (734) 763-2213

Supersymetry & Particle Garden By Professor Gordon Kane Director of University of Center for Theoritical Physics Office: 3464 Randall Lab Phone: (734) 764-4451 Fax: (734) 763-2213

The Search for Superstrings, Symmetry, and the Theory of everything

By Professor John Gribbin University of Sussex Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Sussex Brighton East Sussex BN1 9QH Location: ARUNDEL BUILDING 233 Tel: 01273 678557 Fax: 01273 873124 International: +44 1273 678069 or +44 1273 678557

The Elegant Universe By Professor Brian Green Professor Brian Green Department of Physics 538 W. 120th St New York, NY 10027 Phone: 212-854-3366 Fax: 212-854-3379

The Elegant Universe By Professor Brian Green Professor Brian Green Department of Physics 538 W. 120th St New York, NY 10027 Phone: 212-854-3366 Fax: 212-854-3379

Figure 14 Vibrations of Better Type Doo-Wop 50 & 60's theme music or Star Trek Give us warp speed Make My Day-Clint Eastwood

File Photo Professor Puddin Head aka Chris Walters Email PO Box 160 Las Cruces, NM 88004 Who Published This Website?

Professor Walters is a Rhodes Scholar or should I say Highway Scholar whose first paper was on multiple universes of social services in the western US. The theory of entanglement came during the course of research and the difficulty of trying to get away from this field or research where you can become a permanent fixture. Professor Walter's next discovery involved preventing the release of massive amounts of energy through this interdimensional riff where some politician seriously considered amending social security. How does Professor Puddin Head a High School grad with a C average in Algebra resolve exotic problems in theoritical physics? If you can explain a problem without the mathmetics down to the layman's level Professor Walters can convince those involved they already knew the answer but didn't realize it.

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