A spinning universe could crack the mysteries of dark energy and our place in the multiverse

旋转的宇宙：揭开暗能量的神秘面纱，探寻我们在多元宇宙中的坐标

What is dark energy? Why does dark energy seem to be weakening? Is our universe part of a larger multiverse? What lies beyond the boundary of a black hole?

什么是暗能量？为什么暗能量似乎在减弱？我们的宇宙是否只是更大多元宇宙的一部分？黑洞边界之外又隐藏着什么？

The universe seems to be rotating, and if that is the case, then this could have major ramifications for some of the biggest questions in science, including those above. That's according to Polish theoretical physicist Nikodem Poplawski of the University of New Haven, who is well-known for his theory that black holes act as doorways to other universes.

根据纽黑文大学的波兰理论物理学家Nikodem Poplawski的观点，宇宙似乎在旋转。如果这一假设成立，那么它可能会对科学中一些最重大的问题产生深远影响，包括我们之前提到的问题。Nikodem Poplawski因提出“黑洞是通往其他宇宙的大门”的理论而闻名于世。

"Dark energy is one of the most intriguing mysteries of the universe. Many researchers have tried to explain it by modifying equations of general relativity or suggesting the existence of new fields that could accelerate the universe's expansion," Poplawski told Space.com. "It would be amazing if a simple rotation of the universe was the origin of dark energy, especially that it predicts its weakening."

“暗能量是宇宙中最引人入胜的谜团之一。许多研究人员试图通过修改广义相对论的方程式，或者提出可能存在某种新场来加速宇宙膨胀，从而解释暗能量的起源。” Poplawski对Space.com表示，“如果宇宙的简单旋转就是暗能量的起源，那将令人惊叹不已，尤其是这种理论还预测了暗能量的减弱。”

Evidence that the universe is rotating was recently delivered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which found that two-thirds of galaxies are rotating in the same direction. This suggests a lack of randomness and a preferred direction for cosmic rotation.

詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜（JWST）最近捕捉到了宇宙可能在旋转的迹象。该望远镜的观测结果显示，三分之二的星系都在朝着同一个方向旋转，这暗示宇宙的旋转并非随机，而是存在某种首选方向。

Additionally, Poplawski pointed out that other astronomical data seem to show that the angle between the most likely axis of the spinning galaxies and the axis of the bulk flow of nearby galaxy clusters is 98 degrees, meaning they are nearly perpendicular in relation to each other. That is something that is in accordance with the hypothesis that the universe is rotating.

此外，Poplawski还指出，其他天文数据似乎显示，旋转星系的最可能轴线与附近星系团的大流量轴线之间的夹角约为98度，这意味着两者几乎相互垂直。这一现象与宇宙旋转的假设相契合。

To understand why a rotating universe implies more than one universe, Poplawski refers to "frames of reference." These are sets of coordinate systems that are integral to physics, which allow motion and rest to be measured.

为了理解为什么一个旋转的宇宙意味着可能存在不止一个宇宙，Poplawski提到了“参考系”这一概念。在物理学中，参考系是一组不可或缺的坐标系统，它允许我们测量物体的运动和静止状态。

Imagine two scientists, Terra and Stella. Each is in their own frame of reference, but Terra on Earth, Stella in a spacecraft traveling past our planet. Terra sees Stella's frame of reference (the spacecraft) moving in relation to her own (the Earth), which is at rest. Stella, meanwhile, sees her frame of reference at rest while it is Terra's frame of reference in motion as the Earth races away.

想象一下，有两位科学家：泰拉和斯特拉。泰拉待在地球上，而斯特拉则乘坐宇宙飞船从地球附近飞过。在泰拉看来，斯特拉所在的宇宙飞船（即斯特拉的参照系）正在相对于她自己静止的地球参照系移动。与此同时，从斯特拉的角度看，她自己的参照系是静止的，而泰拉所在的地球则在她的视野中逐渐远去，处于运动状态。

Poplawski pointed out that if the universe is rotating, then its frame of reference is rotating, and that only makes sense if it is rotating in relation to at least one other frame of reference.

Poplawski指出，宇宙的旋转只有在相对于至少一个其他参考系存在旋转时才有意义，因为宇宙自身的参考系也在旋转。

"If the universe is rotating, it must rotate relative to some frame of reference corresponding to something bigger," he continued. "Therefore, the universe is not the only one; it is a part of a multiverse."

“如果宇宙在旋转，那么它必然要相对于某个更大的参照系来旋转。”他接着说道，“这意味着宇宙并非独一无二，而是多元宇宙体系中的一个组成部分。”

For Poplawski, the simplest and most natural explanation of the origin of the rotation of the universe is black hole cosmology.

在Poplawski看来，黑洞宇宙学为宇宙自转提供了一种最简单且最自然的解释。

Black hole cosmology suggests that every black hole creates a new baby universe on the other side of its event horizon, the one-way light-trapping surface that defines the outer boundary of a black hole.

黑洞宇宙学理论提出，每一个黑洞在其视界（即定义黑洞外部边界的单向光捕获表面）的另一侧，都会孕育出一个全新的“婴儿宇宙”。

The theory replaces the central singularity at the heart of a black hole with "spacetime torsion" that gives rise to repulsive gravity that kick-starts the expansion of a new universe.

该理论以“时空扭转”取代了黑洞中心的奇点，这种扭转产生了排斥性的引力，从而触发了新宇宙的膨胀。

"Because all black holes form from rotating objects, such as rotating stars or in the centers of rotating galaxies, they rotate too," Poplawski said. "The universe born in a rotating black hole inherits the axis of rotation of the black hole as its preferred axis."

Poplawski指出：“所有黑洞都是由旋转的天体形成的，比如旋转的恒星或者星系的中心。因此，这些黑洞本身也会旋转。”他还补充道：“在旋转黑洞中诞生的宇宙，会继承黑洞的旋转轴作为其自身的首选轴。”

In other words, our universe may be spinning in a preferred direction because that is the way that the black hole it is sealed within is spinning.

换句话说，我们的宇宙可能正在朝向一个特定的方向旋转，这或许是因为其所包含的黑洞本身就是这样旋转的。

"A black hole becomes an Einstein-Rosen bridge or a 'wormhole' from the parent universe to the baby universe," Poplawski explained. "Observers in the new universe would see the other side of the parent black hole as a primordial white hole."

Poplawski解释道，黑洞实际上可以成为连接母宇宙和子宇宙的爱因斯坦-罗森桥，也就是我们所说的“虫洞”。他还指出，在新宇宙中，观察者会将母黑洞的另一端视为一个原始的白洞。

In lieu of discovering a primordial white hole in our universe leading to our parent black hole and progenitor universe, the strongest evidence of this black hole cosmology is a preferred direction or "rotational asymmetry" in our universe. That can be seen in rotational asymmetry in the galaxies.

这种黑洞宇宙学理论的最有力证据并非在于我们宇宙中存在一个原始白洞，从而导致我们的母黑洞和祖先宇宙的出现，而在于宇宙中存在一个优选方向，即“旋转不对称”。这种现象可以从星系的旋转不对称性中得到体现。

"The motion of individual galaxies in that baby universe will be affected by the rotation of that universe," Poplawski said. "The galaxies will tend to align their axes of rotation with the preferred axis of the rotation of the universe, resulting in the rotation asymmetry, which can be observed."

Poplawski指出：“在那个婴儿宇宙中，单个星系的运动受到宇宙自转的影响。”他还提到：“星系往往会将其旋转轴与宇宙的主导旋转轴对齐，从而产生一种可被观测到的旋转不对称现象。”

That's something astronomers are starting to see.

这是天文学家们开始观察到的现象。

Of course, that means that every black hole in our universe is a doorway to another baby cosmos. These infant universes are protected from investigation by the event horizon of their parent black holes, which prevents any signal from being received from the interior of a black hole.

当然，这意味着我们宇宙中的每一个黑洞都可能是通往另一个“婴儿宇宙”的通道。这些婴儿宇宙被其母黑洞的事件视界所保护，无法被探测到，因此也无法从黑洞内部接收到任何信号。

Likewise, a trip through this cosmic doorway would be impossible for a budding "multinaut" due to the immense gravity surrounding a black hole, which would give rise to tidal forces that would "spaghettify" such an intrepid explorer.

同样地，对于一位崭露头角的“multinaut”（多宇宙旅行者）来说，穿越这个宇宙之门的旅程几乎是不可能的。因为黑洞周围巨大的引力会产生强大的潮汐力，足以将这样一位无畏的探险者“拉伸成面条状”。

Even if such a multinaut were to survive the journey, just as nothing can escape a black hole, nothing can enter a white hole, meaning there would be no return or opportunity to file a report!

即使这样能力出众的人在旅途中幸存下来，情况也并无二致。正如没有什么能够逃脱黑洞的吞噬一样，也没有任何东西能够进入白洞。这就意味着，他们根本没有机会返回或提交报告！

Even grimmer than this, there's no guarantee that the laws of physics are the same in a baby universe as their parent universe, meaning an unpredictable fate and potentially a messy death for a hardy multinaut able to brave a black hole doorway.

更严峻的是，无法保证婴儿宇宙中的物理定律与母宇宙完全一致。这意味着进入其中可能会面临不可预测的命运。对于那些勇敢到敢于站在黑洞边缘的顽强探险者来说，这可能意味着一场混乱而致命的结局。

Anyway, before we rush off to explore other universes, there are mysteries to be investigated right here in our own universe. At the forefront of these is the mysterious force of dark energy.

无论我们多么急切地想要去探索其他宇宙，在我们自己的宇宙中，仍有许多神秘现象亟待研究。其中最重要的便是暗能量这一神秘力量。

Dark energy is a placeholder name given to whatever force is causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate. Dark energy currently dominates the universe, accounting for 68% of the total cosmic matter-energy budget. This wasn't always the way, though.

暗能量是一个用来指代推动宇宙加速膨胀的某种力量的代名词。如今，它在宇宙中占据主导地位，占宇宙物质与能量总预算的68%。然而，这种情况并非始终如此。

During the universe's earliest epoch, it was dominated by the energy of the Big Bang, causing it to inflate. As the universe entered a matter-dominated epoch ruled by gravity, this inflation slowed to a near stop. This should have been it for the cosmos, but around 9 billion to 10 billion years after the Big Bang, the universe started to expand again, with this expansion accelerating, leading to the dark-energy dominated epoch.

在宇宙诞生之初，大爆炸释放出的巨大能量主导了整个宇宙，使其迅速膨胀。随后，宇宙逐渐进入一个由物质和引力主导的阶段，膨胀速度也随之减缓，几乎趋于停滞。按理说，宇宙的膨胀本应就此停止，然而令人意外的是，在大爆炸后大约90亿到100亿年，宇宙的膨胀突然再次启动，并且速度不断加快，最终进入了如今由暗能量主导的时代。

To understand why this is such a worrying puzzle, imagine giving a child on a swing a single push, watching their motion come to a halt, and then, for no discernible reason, they start swinging again, and this motion gets faster and faster.

要理解为什么这是一个如此令人担忧的难题，不妨想象一下这样的场景：你推了一个正在荡秋千的孩子，看着他们的秋千越荡越慢，最终停止。然而，就在没有任何明显原因的情况下，他们又重新开始荡秋千，并且越荡越快。

As if dark energy weren't strange enough already, recent results from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) have indicated that this mysterious force is weakening. This is something that seemingly defies the standard model of cosmology or the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) model, which relies on dark energy (represented by the cosmological constant or Lambda) being constant.

暗能量本身已经足够神秘，而暗能量光谱仪（DESI）的最新研究结果更是令人惊讶：这种神秘的力量似乎正在减弱。这一发现似乎与宇宙学的标准模型——即Λ冷暗物质（ΛCDM）模型相悖。该模型假定暗能量（以宇宙常数Λ表示）是恒定不变的。

However, Poplawski theorizes that a spinning universe can both account for dark energy and explain why it is weakening.

然而，Poplawski的理论认为，宇宙的旋转不仅能解释暗能量的存在，还能解释其为何会逐渐减弱。

"Dark energy would emerge from the centrifugal force in the rotating universe on large scales," the theoretical physicist explained. "If the universe were flat, the centrifugal force would act only in directions perpendicular to the preferred axis."

“暗能量可能源自于宇宙大规模旋转所产生的离心力。”他还指出：“如果宇宙是平的，那么这种离心力将仅作用于垂直于首选轴的方向上。”

However, in Poplawski's black hole theory of cosmology, because the universe created by a black hole is closed, moving away in any direction would eventually lead to coming back from the opposite direction.

在Poplawski的宇宙学理论中，他认为黑洞所创造的宇宙是封闭的。因此，无论向哪个方向移动，最终都会从相反的方向返回。

That would mean the centrifugal force arising from a spinning universe becomes a force acting in all directions away from the universe's parent primordial white hole.

这意味着，旋转宇宙所产生的离心力转化为了向各个方向远离宇宙母体原始白洞的力。

"The magnitude of this force is proportional to the square of the angular velocity of the universe and the distance from the white hole," Poplawski said. "This relation takes the form of the force acting on a galaxy due to dark energy, which is proportional to the cosmological constant and the distance from the white hole. Therefore, the cosmological constant is proportional to the square of the angular velocity of the universe."

Poplawski表示：“这个力的大小与宇宙的角速度的平方以及与白洞的距离成正比。”他还指出：“这种关系表现为暗能量对星系的作用力，它与宇宙学常数以及与白洞的距离成正比。因此，宇宙学常数与宇宙角速度的平方是成正比的。”

But, how could this explain the DESI observations that seem to indicate that dark energy is getting weaker?

但是，这如何解释似乎表明暗能量正在变弱的DESI观测结果呢？

"Because the angular momentum of the universe is conserved, it decreases as the universe expands," Poplawski said. "Consequently, the cosmological constant, which is the simplest explanation of dark energy, should also decrease with time. This result is consistent with recent observations by DESI."

Poplawski指出：“由于宇宙的角动量是守恒的，它会随着宇宙的膨胀而逐渐减小。”他还提到：“因此，作为暗能量最简单解释的宇宙常数也应当随着时间的推移而减小，而这一结论与DESI最近的观测结果相一致。”

To provide some further evidence of Poplawski's concept, more data on the bulk flow of galaxy clusters and on the asymmetry of galaxy rotation axes are needed. This would help further confirm that our universe is rotating.

为了进一步支持Poplawski的观点，我们需要更多关于星系团整体流动以及星系旋转轴不对称性的数据。这些数据将有助于更有力地证实我们的宇宙正在旋转。

Additionally, more data regarding how dark energy depends on cosmic distances and the progression of time in our 13.7 billion-year-old cosmos could help validate whether the weakening of dark energy is related to the decreasing angular velocity of the universe.

此外，在我们这个已有137亿年历史的宇宙中，进一步研究暗能量如何随宇宙距离和时间进程变化，或许能够帮助我们验证暗能量的减弱是否与宇宙角速度的降低有关。

"The next step to advance these ideas is to determine the equation describing how the cosmological constant, generated by the angular velocity of the universe, decreases with time, and to compare this theoretical prediction with the observed decrease of dark energy," Poplawski concluded. "This research might involve searching for the metric describing an expanding and rotating universe."

Poplawski总结道：“接下来，我们需要确定描述宇宙角速度所产生宇宙常数随时间衰减的方程，并将其理论预测与观测到的暗能量减弱情况进行对比。”他还提到：“这项研究可能需要寻找能够描述膨胀且旋转的宇宙的度规。”

A pre-peer-reviewed version of Poplawski's research appears on the paper repository site arXiv.

Poplawski研究的预同行评审版本出现在论文存储网站arXiv上。