Two of the universe's most enigmatic phenomena may be intimately linked

宇宙中最神秘的两种现象可能有联系

Black holes—objects so dense that nothing can escape their pull—

黑洞——密度大到任何物体都无法逃脱它们的引力——

are among the most eye-catching predictions of general relativity,

是广义相对论中最引人注目的预言之一。

Previous work has shown that, in general relativity, the compression of matter past a certain point

以前的结果已经表明，在广义相对论中，物质压缩超过某一点

can lead to the formation of a zone containing vacuum energy, the background energy of empty space.

可以导致一个包含真空能量的区域形成，真空能量是真空空间的背景能量。

Instead of an infinitely dense singularity, it is therefore possible that black holes contain a well of such energy,

因此，黑洞可能包含一个能量阱，而不是一个密度无穷大的奇点，

the presence of which would account for the observed mass discrepancy.

这种能量阱的存在可以解释观测到的质量差异。

“This”, says Dr. Pearson,

皮尔森博士说:

“is the first time there’s been observational evidence that links these theories to the real world.”

“这是第一次有观测证据将这些理论与现实世界联系起来。”

More radical implications follow.

更根本的含义随之而来。

One of the universe’s most mysterious features is that the expansion which began with the Big Bang is accelerating.

宇宙最神秘的特征之一是始于大爆炸的膨胀正在加速。

The driving force is labeled “dark energy”, but no one knows what it actually is.

这种驱动力被称为“暗能量”，但没有人知道它到底是什么。

In a daring theoretical leap, Dr. Pearson and his colleagues suggest that

皮尔森博士和他的同事们在理论上迈出了大胆的一步，

the pockets of vacuum energy present in black holes could be responsible.

他们认为黑洞中存在的真空能量可能是原因之一。

What would make this possible is that the properties of vacuum energy are dependent on the size of the universe as a whole.

支持这种假设的是，真空能量的性质取决于整个宇宙的大小。

An expanding universe, say theorists, would contain vacuum energy at ever greater densities.

理论学家说，一个膨胀的宇宙会包含更大密度的真空能量。

This not only means that black holes would gain mass in hitherto unexplained ways,

这不仅意味着黑洞将以迄今无法解释的方式增加质量，

but that their growth would fill the universe with vast reservoirs of energy.

而且它们的增长将使宇宙充满巨大的能量储备。

They could, in other words, be sources of dark energy.

换句话说，它们可能是暗能量的来源。

The team’s calculations show that the size and number of black holes in the universe

该团队的计算表明，宇宙中黑洞的大小和数量

would be enough to account for all the measured influence of dark energy.

足以解释所有测量到的暗能量的影响。

The neatness of this explanation is remarkable, but elegance is no proof of truth.

这种简洁的解释令人瞩目，但优雅并不能证明真理。

Much more work is needed to discount other, albeit less spectacular, possibilities.

需要更多的成果来排除其他可能性，尽管这些可能性不那么引人注目。

来源：可可英语