The nature of phantom dark energy and its relation to time crystals
In this letter we show that, at its fundamental level, phantom dark energy is a fluid made up of time crystals that permeate the fabric of space-time. In turn, any well-behaved stable theory of a non-canonical scalar field that acts as phantom dark energy also leads to the production of time crystals. This relation offers a new way of thinking and a deeper insight into the nature of the most inexplicable of all ingredients in the universe, dark energy.
Authors
- Laura Mersini–Houghton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0456-1257)
Institutions
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- University of North Carolina Health Care (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2025-08-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-14048-2
- Primary Topic
- Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00