The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is analysing data from its three years of operations to probe the nature of dark energy, the force thought to account for the acceleration of the universe’s expansion.
It has now published results showing a 2.8 to 4.2-sigma (depending on theDataset combined with DESI’s data) “hint” that this fundamental entity may not be constant over time, meaning that it may have changed over the course of the universe’s history.
While this is below the five-sigma threshold that would constitute a scientific discovery, Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki of the University of Texas at Dallas said: “we are getting to the point of no return” in confirming dynamical dark energy.
The next step is to analyse five years of data, which should be available in two years, to see if the results continue to mount to the crucial five-sigma level that would confirm a discovery.
