SOURCE OF DARK ENERGY

Almost 14 billion years ago, at the dawn of the Big Bang, a mysterious energy spurred an exponential expansion of the young universe, giving rise to all known matter, according to the inflationary universe theory. This ancient energy shared key characteristics with today's dark energy, which remains one of the greatest scientific enigmas: it constitutes roughly 70% of the universe, yet its exact nature eludes us. "If you ask yourself, 'Where in the later universe do we see gravity as strong as it was at the beginning of the universe?' the answer is at the center of black holes,". Rewinding the clock to nearly 14 billion years ago brings us to the Big Bang, a cosmic event that triggered the rapid expansion of the infant universe and the creation of all known matter, including stars, planets, black holes, dark matter, and dark energy. According to the inflationary universe theory, the energy generated back then bears striking similarities to what we now call dark energy, believed to make up about 70% of the universe. However, the exact nature of dark energy and its connection to black holes remain a mystery. "It’s possible that what happened during inflation runs in reverse,". "The matter of a massive star becomes dark energy again during gravitational collapse, like a little Big Bang played in reverse."