How can the universe be speeding up in its expansion? Since gravity is the only force that controls wouldn’t the universe ultimately always contract again over time because gravity would eventually win out over the initial acceleration caused by the big bang?

Question

How can the universe be speeding up in its expansion? Since gravity is the only force that controls wouldn’t the universe ultimately always contract again over time because gravity would eventually win out over the initial acceleration caused by the big bang?

In: Physics

Answer 1

We don’t know.

We observed that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, but until we figure out the underlining mechanisms any explanation is a purely theoretical hypothesis.