DESI observations suggest black holes may generate dark energy by consuming stellar matter. The idea resolves puzzles about neutrino mass and cosmic expansion.
These are remarkable times for probing some of the most profound mysteries in physics, made possible by advanced experiments and increasingly precise measurements. One of the most compelling questions centers on dark energy, the term given to the unknown force driving the accelerated expansion of the universe.
A study published in Physical Review Letters presents new evidence suggesting that dark energy’s role in cosmic evolution—long assumed to remain constant—may actually vary over time. According to the researchers and their collaborators, the results can be interpreted as a sign that ordinary matter is gradually being transformed into dark energy.
This work is based on observations from Iolkam Du’ag, a mountain in southern Arizona where the Tohono O’odham Nation oversees Kitt Peak National Observatory. At the site, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) scans deep into the history of the universe with 5,000 robotic eyes, each capable of locking onto a different galaxy every 15 minutes.
Black holes as dark energy bubbles
Operating nearly every night, DESI has already charted millions of galaxies and other luminous objects, many dating back to when the universe was less than half its current age.
In this study, the team examined the idea that black holes act as tiny reservoirs of dark energy. Since black holes form when massive stars burn through their fuel and collapse, this concept—known as the cosmologically coupled black hole (CCBH) hypothesis—implies that stellar material is converted into dark energy.
This framework naturally ties the rate of dark energy production and the depletion of matter to a well-studied quantity: the rate of star formation, measured for decades with instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope and now the James Webb Space Telescope.
“This paper is fitting the data to a particular physical model for the first time and it works well,” said DESI collaboration member Gregory Tarlé, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Michigan and corresponding author of the new report.
Another central aspect of the research involves neutrinos—extremely light, ghost-like particles that are the second most abundant in the universe after photons. Physicists know neutrinos must have a small but nonzero mass, meaning they contribute to the universe’s overall matter content, though their exact masses remain uncertain.
By analyzing DESI’s findings within the CCBH framework, the team obtained values greater than zero for neutrino mass. This outcome aligns with current scientific understanding and improves upon earlier interpretations that had pointed to zero or even negative values.
Developing the CCBH hypothesis
“It’s intriguing at the very least,” Tarlé said. “I’d say compelling would be a more accurate word, but we really try to reserve that in our field.”
DESI is a global collaboration of more than 900 scientists from over 70 institutions. The project is led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, with construction and operations funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. The instrument is installed on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab in Arizona.
The CCBH model was proposed about five years ago by study co-authors Kevin Croker, assistant research scientist at Arizona State University, and Duncan Farrah, a professor at the University of Hawaii. The idea builds on decades of theoretical work exploring black holes as droplets of dark energy rather than destructive “spaghettifying” singularities wrapped in one-way boundaries.
Although the suggestion that dark energy within black holes could influence the cosmos as a whole was unconventional, it proved mathematically viable. This attracted a small group of researchers who began testing how well the hypothesis matched existing observations and large-scale cosmological data.
“Historically, this is the way physics is done. You come up with as many ideas as you can and you shoot them down as fast as you can,” said DESI researcher Steve Ahlen, emeritus professor of physics at Boston University and an early collaborator on the CCBH development.
“You don’t shy away from ideas that are new and different, which is clearly what we need to come up with these days when there are so many mysteries.”
Linking dark energy to star formation
The first data to bolster the CCBH hypothesis came from the unexpected growth of supermassive black holes at the centers of dormant elliptical galaxies, relative to the growth of those galaxies’ stellar populations. But it was data from the first year of DESI, which showed the dark energy density tracking the rate of star formation, that convinced Croker and Farrah to join forces with the DESI Collaboration.
“Working with DESI on the three-year data, it’s been a game-changer,” Croker said of working as a DESI external collaborator on this project. “You’ve got some of the sharpest and most creative researchers in the field lending their hands and hearts. It’s an absolute privilege.”
Other than packets of light called photons, neutrinos are the most abundant particles in the universe. In the time it takes you to read this sentence, hundreds of trillions of neutrinos will pass through your body. But neutrinos rarely interact with their surroundings, meaning they’re constantly zipping through other matter, completely undetected, which is why they’re sometimes referred to as ghost particles.
Scientists know neutrinos have mass, but precisely how much is challenging to measure on account of their ethereal nature. While enormous experiments currently running on Earth work to pin down these numbers, the night sky offers a powerful and complementary avenue for answers.
DESI’s galactic maps contain information on how fast the universe has grown over the past 10 billion years, in turn providing a cosmic inventory of matter and dark energy. But matter comes in three types: cold dark matter, baryons and neutrinos. Early universe measurements from the afterglow of the Big Bang measure the amount of dark matter and baryons long ago. But according to DESI, it seems like there is less matter today when compared to the ancient past. This leaves little room for the neutrinos.
“The data would suggest that the neutrino mass is negative and that, of course, is likely unphysical,” said Rogier Windhorst, Regents’ Professor at ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and co-author of the new study.
CCBH model resolves the neutrino puzzle
Interpreted with the CCBH hypothesis, however, that unphysical issue disappears. Because stars are made of baryons, and black holes convert dead star matter into dark energy, the amount of baryons today has decreased relative to the Big Bang measurements. This allows neutrinos to contribute to the matter budget in the way expected from other measurements.
“You find that the neutrino mass probability distribution points to not only a positive number, but a number that’s entirely in line with ground-based experiments,” Windhorst said. “I find this very exciting.”
While this result gets top billing, the work also highlights other helpful features of the CCBH model.
“The CCBH hypothesis quantifiably links phenomena you would not initially expect to be related,” Farrah said. “It is the mixing of scales, large and small, that runs so counter to our trained linear intuition.”
Matter slows down the growth of the universe, whereas dark energy speeds it up. Because matter is converted to dark energy in the CCBH hypothesis, accelerated expansion happens earlier and so the expansion rate today, the Hubble rate, is a bit larger. This extra boost brings the cosmological measurement of the Hubble rate closer to other measurements, like those from distant exploding stars called supernovae.
The CCBH hypothesis also explains the observed amount of dark energy: It’s not just some magical number set when the universe was born. Dark energy comes from dead stars, so there isn’t any until you have stars, and stars do not form until the universe has grown sufficiently large and cool. Once stars are produced, the amount of dark energy made is directly related to how many stars are made.
Looking forward with DESI
“Working on this project has been both challenging and incredibly fun,” said study co-author Gustavo Niz, a researcher at the University of Guanajuato, Mexico. “This is just another milestone in establishing CCBH as a viable theory. It will take more data, rigorous analysis, and broader scrutiny to determine whether it can become a new paradigm for explaining our universe. Of course, it could also be ruled out as new data emerges.”
Croker said the hypothesis performs well when looking at the universe in the rough, “but data from other experiments that study individual black holes isn’t as compelling. That’s why the hypothesis is interesting. Many different observers can actually test it, hammer it out in real time.”
According to Ahlen, that’s the way science goes. But for scientists who have been working on DESI from the beginning, it’s exciting to see that data coming in is enabling researchers to test new and different hypotheses.
“This is so cool, to be at this point after working on an experiment for so long, to be coming up with exciting results,” said Tarlé, who led the team that built DESI’s robotic eye system. “It’s just wonderful.”
Reference: “Positive Neutrino Masses with DESI DR2 via Matter Conversion to Dark Energy” by S. P. Ahlen, A. Aviles, B. Cartwright, K. S. Croker, W. Elbers, D. Farrah, N. Fernandez, G. Niz, J. W. Rohlf, J. W. Rohlf, G. Tarlé, R. A. Windhorst, J. Aguilar, U. Andrade, D. Bianchi, D. Brooks, T. Claybaugh, A. de la Macorra, A. de Mattia, B. Dey, P. Doel, J. E. Forero-Romero, E. Gaztañaga, S. Gontcho A. Gontcho, G. Gutierrez, D. Huterer, M. Ishak, R. Kehoe, D. Kirkby, A. Kremin, O. Lahav, C. Lamman, M. Landriau, L. Le Guillou, M. E. Levi, M. Manera, R. Miquel, J. Moustakas, I. Pérez-Ràfols, F. Prada, G. Rossi, E. Sanchez, M. Schubnell, H. Seo, J. Silber, D. Sprayberry, M. Walther, B. A. Weaver, R. H. Wechsler and H. Zou, 21 August 2025, Physical Review Letters.
DOI: 10.1103/yb2k-kn7h
In addition to its primary support from the DOE Office of Science, DESI is also supported by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science user facility. Additional support for DESI is provided by the NSF; the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; the French Alternative Energies 2 and Atomic Energy Commission; the National Council of Humanities, Sciences, and Technologies of Mexico; the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain; and by the DESI member institutions.
The DESI collaboration is honored to be permitted to conduct scientific research on Iolkam Du’ag (Kitt Peak), a mountain with particular significance to the Tohono O’odham Nation.
Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.
15 Comments
“Dark Energy *Spectroscopic” Insteument”? What a silly name. If the thing they’re looking for is *dark*, on what spectre could it possibly be?
Anyway, dark matter and dark energy don’t exist. This is just some kind of money laundering scheme for academia.
“dark matter and dark energy don’t exist”
The word “dark” implies that their natures are unknown.
However, if you say that they don’t exist, then you will have to explain data on the rotation of galaxies and expansion of the universe that are as yet unexplained.
I don’t have to explain a God damn thing, you silly person.
But if I had to venture a guess, my first thought would be “errors in measurement”.
Sure. I get it. You prefer to be inconsistent and illogical. Then you don’t need to explain anything.
You don’t get anything, you conceired neurotic knob.
You clearly don’t even know what the words “inconsistent” and “illogical” mean. You’re just using them everywhere because they’re making you sound posh.
I can see the personal attacks are the best you can do. Without a logical brain like most humans, that’s your best bet.
Wallahu khoirul ha’fizin
Doctorates Estimates on Sciences Interstellar- Accompaniedly I, respectively, conclude,
“Spin momentum is moderate active
U 0101, this have to count bores momentum.
Rather wallahi
E memo 25090400507_Source1.A Re-interpretation【
Source 1.
https://scitechdaily.com/the-universes-engine-is-changing-desi-hints-dark-energy-isnt-what-we-thought/
A.
The engines of the universe are changing: DESI, suggesting that dark energy is not what we thought it would be
By Matt Davenport, University of Michigan, September 3, 2025
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Equipment is mounted on the Nicholas U. Mayol 4-meter telescope at the National Science Foundation’s Kit Peak Observatory (NSF NOIRLab program). Photo courtesy of KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. Tafresh
1-1.
_DESI observations suggest that black holes can consume stellar matter and produce dark energy.
【>>>>>
>Black holes belong to qpeoms and qms are defined as dark energy (*), so dark energy is difficult to observe directly in msbase and can only be seen in the quantum mechanical qpeoms.galaxy. Hmm.
> Wow! This is the world of Kedeheon’s lion voice.
>_The idea solves the riddle of neutrino mass and cosmic expansion.
>ok!>>>> Space expansion is dark matter msoss.ok? <<
1-2.
_This is a remarkable time to explore the most profound mysteries of physics through advanced experiments and increasingly precise measurements.
_One of the most compelling questions concerns dark energy, a term referring to the unknown forces driving the accelerated expansion of the universe.
_A study published in Physical Review Letters found that the role of dark energy in cosmic evolution had long been considered constant,
_In practice, we present new evidence suggesting that it may vary over time.
1-3.
_According to the researchers and collaborators, this result can be interpreted as a signal that ordinary matter is gradually being converted into dark energy.
【>>>>>
>Dark matter is a msoss created by the expansion of ordinary matter.
> However, neutrinos, candidates for dark matter, are also born from qpeoms’ nqms.nqvixer.nqcell, which produces ordinary matter particles. Good!
James Brown!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=GaB9F3R9cIY&si=B_f6qlvtoeU9jfOr
>_What is interpreted as a signal that ordinary matter is gradually being converted into dark energy is that msoss is gradually converting into nqms??? It makes sense!
<<<>>>>>
> Related data from blackhole.vixer and dark_energy.nqms??
> vixer has countless neutron stars vixx. If the hypothesis exists that nqms are formed of neutrinos by dark energy, isn’t it something that has the properties of the neutron star vixx or the neutrino itself?
> So the black hole vixer is a neutrino vixx, not a neutron star, or the black hole has been converted from the neutrino?
>>> This is quantum-mechanical relationship between neutrinos and black holes, and the relationship between black hole vixer and neutron stars in msbase concept seems separate.
<<<<<】
2-2.
_Since black holes form when a huge star burns up all its fuel and collapses, this concept, known as the cosmologically coupled black hole (CCBH) hypothesis, suggests that stellar matter is converted to dark energy.
_The framework naturally links the rates of dark energy generation and matter depletion to well-studied amounts measured by instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope for decades: the rate of star formation.
2-3.
_"This is the first paper to fit data into a particular physical model and it works well," said Gregory Tarle, DESI collaborative researcher, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Michigan and lead author of the new report.
_Left: Key figures in the report exploring the implications of cosmologically coupled black hole (CCBH) hypotheses for the mass of neutrinos, i.e., "ghost particles." Right: Annotations briefly explaining the main concepts in this figure. Source: Graph: SA Ahlen et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2025 DOI:10.1103/yb2k-kn7h Comment: Claire Lamman/DESI Collaboration
3.
_Another key aspect of this study is neutrinos.
_Neutrinos are very light and ghostly particles, the second most abundant in the universe after photons.
_Physicists know that neutrinos must have small, but non-zero masses. This means that neutrinos contribute to the total matter content of the universe, but the exact mass is still uncertain.
3-1.
_Analyzing the findings of DESI within the CCBH framework, the team obtained values greater than zero for neutrino mass.
The data would suggest that the neutrino mass is negative and that, of course, is likely unphysical.
VERY GOOD!
Please ask researchers to think deeply:
Where do neutrinos in space come from? Is it from God or the dynamic evolution of space itself?
Why does physics today dare to openly use one lie to make up for another, but never feel dirty and ashamed?
The DE production via baryon consumption in this CCBH model is split into two distributions…so effectively there are more parameters to fit to with this approach, and voila, Hubble tension solved. Also, CCBH models are at odds with observed numbers of binary mergers, producing orders of magnitude more events, with typical masses much larger than inferred by LIGO-Virgo-Kagra.
Why do the researchers believe only matter turns into dark energy? Could dark matter not turn into dark energy and vice versa? Einstein proved matter and energy are transmutable.
Topology provides stability blueprints, but specific physics (spatial features, gravitational collapse, fluid viscosity, quantum measurement) dictates vortex generation, evolution, and decay. Quantum phase transitions do not require independent description and can be fully incorporated into topological phase transition pattern images for research. Apart from space itself, anything in space did not exist prior to the current moment. Things emerge in space because the non-viscous, incompressible, and isotropic space undergoes topological phase transitions, resulting in excitations. Topological materials may be easier to understand than so-called quantum materials.
Since no one really knows the nature of dark matter and dark energy, it is hard to claim what turns into what. At least dark matter seems to have a gravitational effect on its surroundings – so it is probably actually matter. It is not at all clear what dark energy is.
We have some ideas. Gravitational lensing makes it possible to see the effect of dark matter on its surroundings which is distinct from (observable/light matter). Considering the conservation of energy principle it follows that dark energy is merely a transmuted form of dark matter in a system.
“Considering the conservation of energy principle it follows that dark energy is merely a transmuted form of dark matter in a system.”
Not sure what you mean. Dark energy is an attempt to explain the accelerating expansion of the universe. Why must it be connected to dark matter? Yes, they both have the word “dark” in their names – but that is just because we don’t know the natures of the two things.
Are you saying that dark energy is the energy-form of dark matter? As you correctly say in your previous comment – dark matter does have a gravitational effect – and that effect is attractive. Dark matter is slowing the expansion, not accelerating it.