2024-03-26 05:00:15
The Universe never ceases to amaze us and ask us questions. The nature of gravity holds a central place in current research.
In 2009, theoretical physicist Erik Verlinde proposed an innovative view of gravity. According to him, this fundamental force that we know well could be the emergence of hidden processes, an idea which, 15 years later, continues to fuel the debate scientist without having found any confirmation experimental solid.
The notion of emergence is not new in physics. It describes how complex properties can arise from the simple interaction of many components. For example, the temperature of a gas is not an intrinsic property but results from microscopic collisions between its molecules. This approach is at the heart of the mechanical statistical, a branch of physics that bridges microscopic behaviors and emergent properties. Verlinde was inspired by the work of Stephen Hawking and Jacob Bekenstein on black holes in the 1970s, which showed that their properties could be described by the laws of thermodynamics. He thus proposed that the gravity could be an emergent property, arising from deep and unknown physical processes, using the tools of statistical mechanics.
In 2016, Verlinde’s idea took a new turn with the proposal that the Universe, by containing dark energy, develops a new emergent property of space itself, which contracts in regions of low density. This perspective offers an alternative to black matterthis invisible substance which represents most of the mass of galaxies according to current models, but which remains undetected directly.
The emerging theory of gravity allows testing new ideas about the structure and evolution of galaxies, differentiating its predictions from those based on dark matter. However, experimental results are mixed. Some preliminary tests favored emergent gravity, but more recent observations have not confirmed this advantage.
Research into emergent gravity is not over. The theory is still young, is based on many hypotheses and requires more rigorous testing, such as the exploitation of data of cosmic microwave background. If it turns out to be correct, our understanding of the Universe, of gravity, of movement, and even of time and space, will have to be radically rethought from the angle of emergence. For now, it’s an idea waiting to be explored further.
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