Subir Sarkar: Why Dark Energy Is a Local Illusion episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 26, 2026 · 2H 3M

Subir Sarkar: Why Dark Energy Is a Local Illusion

from Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal · host Theories of Everything

Hot off the press, Professor Subir Sarkar makes the case that dark energy doesn’t exist (and he’s not being provocative for its own sake). He’s the former head of Oxford’s particle theory group, serves on the Particle Data Group. Sarkar's group has found that the cosmic acceleration supposedly driving the universe's expansion is directional—not uniform as required by a cosmological constant—appearing only in the direction we're moving through space. He claims the 2011 Nobel Prize-winning discovery rests on a century-old assumption of cosmic isotropy that his data now falsifies at over 5 sigma. "We need to go back to square one." SUPPORT: - Support me on Substack: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/subscribe - Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/de803625-87d3-4300-ab6d-85d4258834a9 - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 LINKS MENTIONED: - https://inspirehep.net/literature/52370 - https://journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev.174.2168 - https://www.nature.com/articles/srep35596 - https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.08972 - https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1993ApJ...413L.105P/abstract - https://arxiv.org/abs/1503.01229 - https://inference-review.com/article/heart-of-darkness - https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/206/2/377/1024995 - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235329300_The_NRAO_VLA_sky_survey - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1304.3627 - https://arxiv.org/abs/1608.06483 - https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=hYPXSjkAAAAJ&citation_for_view=hYPXSjkAAAAJ:k_IJM867U9cC - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.03.18.533281v2.full - https://amazon.com/dp/0486472051?tag=toe08-20 - https://youtu.be/xZnafO__IZ0 - https://youtu.be/kUHOoMX4Bqw - https://youtu.be/5pOpcCT6AmY - https://youtu.be/guQIkV6yCik - https://youtu.be/6I2OhmVWLMs - https://youtu.be/dG_uKJx6Lpg - https://youtu.be/sGm505TFMbU - https://youtu.be/Ve_Mpd6dGv8 - https://youtu.be/hF4SAketEHY - https://youtu.be/X4PdPnQuwjY - https://youtu.be/zNZCa1pVE20 - https://youtu.be/ZUp9x44N3uE - https://youtu.be/fAaXk_WoQqQ - https://arxiv.org/abs/1506.01354 - https://www.nature.com/articles/366029a0 - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1808.04597 - https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2014/08/aa23413-14.pdf - https://arxiv.org/pdf/2411.10838 - https://archive.org/details/generalprinciple0000paul/page/n1/mode/2up - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1205.3365 - https://amazon.com/dp/0471925675?tag=toe08-20 - https://arxiv.org/abs/1112.3108 - https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-ph/9506283 - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/037026938491565X - https://journals.aps.org/rmp/pdf/10.1103/RevModPhys.79.1349 - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjs/s11734-021-00199-6 - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10701-005-9042-8 - https://journals.aps.org/rmp/abstract/10.1103/9ygx-z2yq Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. SPONSOR: I subscribe to The Economist for their science and tech coverage. As a TOE listener, get 35% off! No other podcast has this: https://economist.com/TOE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Subir Sarkar: Why Dark Energy Is a Local Illusion

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This episode was published on January 26, 2026.

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Hot off the press, Professor Subir Sarkar makes the case that dark energy doesn’t exist (and he’s not being provocative for its own sake). He’s the former head of Oxford’s particle theory group, serves on the Particle Data Group. Sarkar's group has...

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