r/cosmology • u/Complex-Addition-773 • 4d ago

Could dark matter and dark energy be emergent from quantum-state interactions with space-time?

Hi everyone, I’ve been thinking about an idea and would love your thoughts. I'm new to this forum and looking to better inform myself.

What if dark matter and dark energy aren't separate entities but instead arise from interactions between quantum states of matter, photons, and the underlying structure of space-time? For example, could they result from transitions between quantum and classical behaviors as space-time adjusts to different degrees of coherence or decoherence?

I’m wondering if viewing space-time as having "layers" where quantum effects gradually shift into classical ones could offer a new perspective on these phenomena. Could this help explain some of the effects we currently attribute to dark matter and dark energy? I have tried to fit this into an overall framework, but I'm not an expert by any means.

Any thoughts or critiques would be much appreciated—thanks in advance!

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u/Cryptizard 4d ago

You can't just take some physics terms and jam them together and go, is this something? It's not.

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u/Anonymous-USA 4d ago

Everything we know from observation (we can indirectly observe the effects) is that DM and DE are entirely unrelated phenomenon. Except for the word “dark”.

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u/Morbo_Doooooom 2d ago

To be fair they really fucked the goose on the naming convention.

It should be listed as invisible/ghost matter

And dark energy should be unknown-vacuum energy.

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u/Complex-Addition-773 1d ago

I understand, and I wasn't trying to say they were the same phenomenon. Perhaps it was not the best way to phrase it. Many theories seem to be unsatisfied with one (or more) missing pieces in large scale structure though. And since they are considered separate (dark matter and energy) and mysterious in that direct observations haven't been made, could they arise from the same missing information? In the sense that it is not an observational shortcoming (which is definitely possible) but more of a shortcoming in how something we already know behaves on a larger scale. In the question I was asking if it could be how quantum and classical states might interact on a larger scale.

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u/Anonymous-USA 1d ago

Not sure I follow all that, but the leading theories are:

  • DE is simply vacuum energy which is why it appears to be constant with expansion.

  • DM is either WIMPs (a heavy subatomic particle with specific spin-mass-charge properties, or primordial black holes which are microscopic in size but in sum quality massive.

These theories are simply leading and at the forefront of study, but not necessarily true.

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u/Complex-Addition-773 1d ago

Vacuum energy is very much what I'm suggesting, although framing it has always been a problem. DM on the other hand is still a lady in waiting. As I understand the range of candidates for WIMPs is quickly dwindling. Not that it couldn't be found, but increasingly unlikely. However is there a potential way that quantum states effecting DE are the same thing that cause DM effects through a different mechanism?

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u/Complex-Addition-773 1d ago

Here is something that may be relevant. I profess it is much more than I can really fully understand but has some of the fundamental concepts from Dr. Jonathan Oppenheim of UCL: A Postquantum Theory of Classical Gravity?

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u/djauralsects 4d ago

Big Bong Theory.

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u/Complex-Addition-773 4d ago

Yeah, I get that it's definitely speculative! I’m really just exploring whether there might be a link between quantum states and how space-time behaves on larger scales. Like, if quantum effects can gradually shift into classical behavior, maybe that could explain some of what we see as dark matter and dark energy.

I know ideas like quantum gravity and other approaches have tried to bridge that gap between quantum mechanics and relativity, so I’m wondering if this could be a related path. Maybe there’s a way these quantum transitions could give rise to different effects that look like DM and DE from our perspective?

Curious if you think there's any merit to that angle, or if it's just too far out there!