Dark source flux, dark energy and the expansion of the flat universe

Recent WMAC and Planck data confirm that the universe is spatially flat also in a General Relativity framework. This article aims at demonstrating that in the flat-metric, uniform universe approximation, a new set of initial assumptions – consistent with earlier and recent observations – results in a simple, rigorous expansion theory, free-standing from General Relativity and readily explaining the observed expansion features of the universe, both qualitatively and quantitatively. A Big Bang singularity and the existence of a non-zero ground level density of dark energy permeating all space and being a physical manifestation of the invariant ground state space, follows from the theory. The basic hypothesis is that the universe is inflated by a uniformly distributed source flux of dark energy – a dark source flux – generating the observed volume expansion. This source flux makes possible a concise mathematical formulation of the metric expansion in terms of one single variable (cosmic time) and two measurable universal constants. The model completely determines the evolution of the universe from Big Bang to eternity and provides a seamless connection between the early epoch of rapid inflation and our present epoch of slower but accelerating expansion. It features a transition from decelerating to accelerating expansion in an interval of time consistent with astrophysical observations. All expansion parameters – including total density and dark energy density – are derived and evaluated from merely two experimental input parameters: a measured Hubble constant and the age of the universe estimated from the age of the oldest known star. The numerical results are well in line with recent WMAP and Planck results, but in contrast to these do not rely on best-fit procedures. The model also reveals an intimate relation between the dark energy and the matter contents of the universe. The dark source flux defines a cosmological arrow of time and opens up a new and tangible physical perspective in the understanding of the evolution of the expanding universe.<p>New version 150223, 161206.