Speculation on the Origin of Dark Energy Based on Thermomass Theory

Abstract

Dark energy accounts for approximately 68% of the total matter-energy content of the known universe and, within the standard cosmological model, is successfully invoked to explain the observed accelerated expansion. Nevertheless, the academic community remains deeply divided regarding the fundamental issue of dark energy’s origin, which stands as one of the most significant unresolved problems in cosmology. This paper investigates the origin of dark energy from the perspective of thermomass theory, grounded in the principle of energy conservation. Thermomass theory is an emerging framework in heat transfer that introduces novel physical quantities, including thermomass, thermomass velocity, and thermomass energy. In this framework, thermomass is defined as the mass equivalent associated with the internal energy of a material system, rather than as the relativistic mass increment caused by macroscopic motion. Under terrestrial conditions of temperature, the magnitudes of thermomass and thermomass energy are far smaller than those of rest mass and rest energy. However, in the early universe following the Big Bang, temperatures are thought to have exceeded 1032 K—a regime in which thermomass energy could be comparable to, or even exceeded, rest energy. High-grade forms of energy, such as electrical, optical, and mechanical energy, tend to dissipate into low-grade thermal energy during transfer. Consequently, in the process of heat (thermomass) transfer, the heat (thermomass) is conserved, whereas thermomass energy dissipates into a lower-grade, invisible form of energy. The resulting energy exhibits four characteristics: it permeates the entire universe, possesses extremely low energy density, exerts negative pressure, and accumulates gradually over time. These properties align closely with those attributed to dark energy. Accordingly, we conjecture that the thermomass energy dissipation product may provide a possible thermophysical origin of dark energy. This conjecture offers a new perspective on the connection between irreversible energy-transfer processes and cosmic acceleration.