Physicists Propose a Micron-Sized 'Dark Dimension' to Explain Dark Energy

Ignatios Antoniadis of Sorbonne University and Dieter Lüst of the Max Planck Institute have proposed a 'dark dimension' scenario in which our four-dimensional reality leaks into a fifth dimension about a micron across. The model explains the tiny observed value of dark energy without fine-tuning, and experiments searching for short-range gravity anomalies could test it.

• The fifth dimension in the model is about a micron across
• The tiny dark energy value emerges without fine-tuning
• Tests look for gravity anomalies at the micron scale
• The paper was published on arXiv in September 2024