The cosmological constant as a research area encompasses theoretical and observational studies of the small, positive vacuum energy density driving the late-time accelerated expansion of the universe within the ΛCDM framework. Research addresses its role as a parameter in Einstein’s field equations, constraints from supernovae, cosmic microwave background anisotropies, and large-scale structure, and its consistency with quantum field theoretic expectations for vacuum energy. The field also investigates parameter estimation, degeneracies with alternative dark energy models and modified gravity, and implications for cosmic history, structure formation, and future surveys aimed at refining measurements of Λ.
Mathematicians are challenging the idea that dark energy is responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe. In a new paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, mathematicians from the University of ...
Astronomy
May 28, 2026
69
858
Cosmologists have long struggled to determine whether the universe's accelerating expansion is being driven by a simple cosmological constant, or whether dark energy's influence is evolving over time. In a new analysis published ...
Trying to solve quantum gravity is frustrating. We have made tremendous progress in quantum theory, but it seems that every time we find a new quantum technique, there's a reason it doesn't quite work with gravity. Take, ...
General Physics
May 13, 2026
3
277
The largest-ever survey of physicists from around the world—released today—shows a distinct lack of consensus across many of physics's most important questions, from the nature of black holes and dark matter, to the still-incomplete ...
General Physics
May 12, 2026
69
408
The cosmological constant is the mathematical description of the energy that drives the ever-accelerating expansion of the cosmos. It's also the source of one of the most enduring and confounding problems in modern physics.
General Physics
Apr 20, 2026
21
585
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has successfully completed the largest high-resolution 3D map of the universe ever made, a major milestone in understanding the force driving cosmic expansion. The milestone ...
Astronomy
Apr 18, 2026
6
198
A team of cosmologists in China has introduced a mathematical framework that investigates two of the deepest mysteries in cosmology at the same time. Publishing their research in The Astrophysical Journal, Yun Chen and colleagues ...
Dark energy is one of those cosmological features that we are still learning about. While we can't see it directly, we can most famously observe its effects on the universe—primarily how it is causing the expansion of the ...
Astronomy
Feb 17, 2026
3
64
The United Arab Emirates announced on Tuesday that it would extend its Mars probe mission, now in its fifth year, for an additional three, underlining the oil-rich state's space ambitions.
Space Exploration
Feb 17, 2026
0
31
As the Dark Energy Survey (DES) releases its final results, we caught up with two physicists who've been involved in the project from its early days. In this Q&A, Josh Frieman, DES co-founder and associate laboratory director ...
Astronomy
Jan 26, 2026
1
120
