DECREASING-MASS COSMOLOGY

AND THE
ACCELERATING EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE
Dimitri Deliyiannis
Physics Department,
Aristotle University
of Thessaloniki.
email: deliyiannis@yahoo.gr
(Dated: July 13, 2015)
We can explain the accelerating expansion of the universe by just assuming that the rest mass of
any particle decreases with the time and the non-relativistic mass dominates over any other content
of the universe today. Concepts, such as dark energy, quintessence, vacuum energy, repulsive forces
and so on are completely unnecessary. The cosmological model, which is based on this idea fits
perfectly to the astronomical data.

I.

INTRODUCTION.

Lets assume that the rest mass of any particle decreases with the time according to the relation
m = m0 f (t)

(1)

m is the rest mass at time t, m0 is the present rest mass.

From now on we will know that the subscript 0 indicates the present value of a quantity. f (t) is a decreasing function, which will be determined later. Since f (t)
changes very slowly with the time, approximately it can
be written
f (t) (1 t)

(2)

so that
m m0 (1 t)
As we will see later, = (1.69 0.05) 10
From (1) and (2)
m

f
=
m
f

18

sec

(3)

Dots are shorthand for time derivatives. In this case,

Newtons second law becomes
d(m~ )
F~ =
= m~ + m~

dt

the particle is proportional to its mass m and the velocity . Since the mass decreases according to the relation
m m0 (1 t) the velocity should increases according
to the relation 0 (1 + t).
There is conservation of momentum, but the law of
conservation of energy is violated, because, since the rest
mass decreases the equivalent energy of the particle decreases too. However there is an energy paradox here:
In spite that the total energy decreases with the time the
kinetic energy increases with the time: The total energy
of a particle at time t = 0, when it moves freely with
non-relativistic velocity, is
1
E0 = m0 c2 + m0 02
(5)
2
Taking into account that m m0 (1 t) and because of
the conservation of momentum 0 (1 + t), the total
energy at time t will be
1
(6)
E0 = m0 c2 (1 t) + m0 02 (1 + t)
2
As you can see, the second term on the right hand side
of equation (6), which represents the kinetic energy, increases with the time, although, by comparing (5) and
(6) and knowing that m0 c2  12 m0 02 , we realize that
the total energy decreases with the time (E < E0 ).
Finally, I should note that massless particles, such as
photons, are not affected of the change of the rest mass.
Therefore, the law of conservation of energy is not violated by these particles.

and using (3), after rearranging

II.

F~
f
F~
~ =
~
+ ~
m f
m

(4)

F~ is a force acting on a mass point m, which is moving

with velocity ~ and acceleration ~ .
Its obvious that, even, if there is no force acting on the
mass point (F~ = 0) there is acceleration, which is proportional to the velocity (~ ~ ). This happens because
of the conservation of momentum. The momentum of

COSMOLOGICAL EQUATIONS.

Lets consider the universe as a uniform expanding

medium, with mass density and an observer in it. Now
consider a particle a distance r away with mass m. Due
to Newtons theorem, this particle only feels a force from
the material at smaller radius. This material has total
mass given by M = 4r3 /3 contributing a force
GM m
4Grm
F~ =
r0 =
r0
r2
3

(7)

2
The unit vector r0 is tangent to the distance r, and points
in the direction of r increasing. G is the gravitational
constant.
According to Hubbles law, the velocity of the particle is
~ = Hr
r0

(8)

, = 0, 1, 2, 3 and (t) is the scale factor of the universe.

Inserting the last three equations in (13), in the usual
way, we obtain the first and second of the following equations
Acceleration equation :

4G f
=
H

3
f
F riedman equation :
8G
f
H2 =
H
3
f
F luid equation :
f

+ 3H =

where H is the Hubbles parameter.

Inserting (7) and (8) in (4) we obtain
~ =

f
4G
r
r0 Hr
r0
3
f

(9)

Since ff H is nearly constant we can treat ~ as a conservative field, so that we can set
~
~ = O

(10)

where is a scalar potential.

Substituting (10) in (9)
~ =
O

O2 =

f
4
r
r0 + Hr
r0
3
f

(11)

4
f
~ (r
~ (r
r0 )
O
r0 ) + H O
3
f

H=
is the Hubbles parameter.
The easy derivation of the fluid equation, the third of
equations (14), is as follows: If M0 is the mass of the
material in a spherical region of radius r at t = 0, then
at time t it will be M = M0 f or 34 3 = 43 0 03 f and
finally

~ (r
and since O
r0 ) = 3
f
O2 3 H = 4G
f

3 = 0 03 f
(12)

Equation (12) is the Poissons equation with the addi

tional term 3 ff H. The analog extension of equation
(12) in the general theory of relativity is the equation
G + (t)g =

8G
T
c4

3 f
H
c2 f

G is Einsteins tensor, g is the metric tensor and T

is the energy-momentum tensor.
In fact, equation (13) is Einsteins equation with cosmological constant , but with one difference: is not constant. It changes very slowly with the time. Thats why
the law of conservation of energy is violated, as already
has been mentioned.
Now lets assume a flat Friedman-Robertson-Walker
universe, in which the non-relativistic mass dominates
over any other content of the universe. In Cartesian coordinates xi = (x0 , x1 , x2 , x3 ) = (t, x, y, z) the RobertsonWalker line element ds and the tensors g , G and T
are given by the equations bellow.
ds2 = c2 dt2 2 (t)[dx2 + dy 2 + dz 2 ]
g = diag(c2 , 2 , 2 , 2 )
G
T

(15)

By differentiating equation (15) with respect to the time

we obtain the fluid equation.

III.

DETERMINATION OF THE FUNCTION

f (t).

(13)

where
(t) =

(14)

2 + 2

2 + 2

2 + 2

= diag(3 ,
,
,
)
2
2
2

c
c
c
= diag(c4 , 0, 0, 0)

We are still not in a position to solve the equations

(14), because we dont know the function f (t). For the
determination of the function f (t) and for numerical simulations, equations should be put in dimensionless form.
As a first step to this direction we will use the logarithmic
time variable
= ln

(16)

Using equation (16) we obtain the following equations:

d
= H, = 0 H, f = f 0 H, = 0 H
dt

= 00 H 2 + 0 H 0 H, = 0 = 00

(17)

Primes are

shorthand for logarithmic time derivatives
0 = d
d . We also introduce the dimensionless parameters
=

= H
, H
c0
H0

(18)

where c0 = 3H02 /8G is the present critical density for

flat space. Using equations (17) and (18), the dimension-

3
less form of equations (14) are
Acceleration equation :
H
0 = 3
2H

F riedman equation :
2 = 0
H
1 + ff

(19)

F luid equation :
0
f0
+3=

f
From equations (19) we obtain
0

f
(
0 1) e
=
f
0 (
0 1) e4

(20)

(21)

See the derivation of equations (20) and (21) here [1].

I should note that all the above equations are valid for
> 4 when density in matter dominates over density
in radiation.
For small , e4 1 + 4 and (21) becomes
f ( ) 1 (1 0 )
We change the variable to t using H0 t
f (t) 1 (1 0 )H0 t

(22)

Comparing equations (2) and (22)

= (1 0 )H0

(23)

We will determine 0 and H0 later. We will also use (23)

to determine the value of .
IV.

The dimensionless form of equation (15) is

(26)

See the derivation of the results above here [4].

H0 is the present Hubbles parameter.
0 is the ratio of the present density in matter to the
present critical density.
q0 is the present deceleration parameter.
t is the transition time. That is, the when the universe
made a transition from deceleration to acceleration.
zt is the transition redshift. Is computed through equation t = ln(1 + zt ).
is given by equation (3) and computed via equation
(23).
In comparison to these results let me show you the
results Ive got using the CDM model, which obeys the
2 = 0 e3 + (1 0 ).
equation H
H0
0
q0
t
zt

= 69.8 0.3 km/sec/M pc

= 0.30 0.02
= 0.55 0.03
= 0.52 0.04
= 0.68 0.06

(27)

0 = 0.29 0.06
q0 = 0.66 0.10
zt = 0.46 0.14

(24)

Inserting equations (20), (21) and (24) in the dimensionless Friedman equation we obtain
2 = [
H
0 e4 + (1 0 )]3/4

= 70 0.3 km/sec/M pc
= 0.26 0.02
= 0.62 0.03
= 0.44 0.03
= 0.56 0.04

See the derivation of the results above here [5].

Now lets compare and contrast the predictions of the
two models, for 0 , q0 and zt . The observational values
are

THE DECREASING-MASS MODEL.

= 0 e3 f ( )

H0
0
q0
t
zt

= (1.69 0.05) 1018 sec1

Finally, the solution of equation (20) is


1/4
f ( ) = 0 (
0 1) e4

than 0.01. I did this to avoid errors due to their extra

velocity, other than Hubble velocity.
To assess the goodness of fit of the decreasing-mass
model to the astronomical data I used the method of
residuals. Read about this method here [3]. I applied
equation (25) at a simulation program and I gave as input
data the values 0 =0.200, 0.201, ..., 0.350 and H0 =69.0,
69.1, ..., 71.0 Km/sec/Mpc. The model fits perfectly to
the astronomical data if

(25)

Now lets call the cosmological model which obeys the

equation (25) decreasing-mass model and see if it
agrees with the astronomical data.
The astronomical data I have in my disposal are the
measurements of the distance modulus and the redshift of
681 supernova-Ia. You can see these data here [2]. These
681 supernova have been chosen of a list of 715 supernova
from which have been excluded those with redshift less

As you see the predictions of the decreasing-mass

model for 0 ,q0 and zt are in agreement with the observational values, whereas the prediction of the CDM
model for zt fails and the prediction for q0 , nearly fails.
V.

PLANETARY ORBITS.

If the idea of decreasing of mass is right, then we should

expect to observe some effects to the planetary orbits.

4
Specifically, each planet is gradually receding from the
sun into a higher orbit and the orbital rotation is slowing
slightly with the time. Assuming, for simplicity, that
the orbit of the planet is circular and r0 is the present
distance of the planet from the sun, then, we can prove
that the increment of this distance after time t will be
r = r0 3t

(28)

and if T0 is the sidereal period of the last revolution of the

planet at time t = 0, then the increment of the sidereal
period of the last revolution at time t will be
T = T0 5t

(29)

Using (28) and (29) in the case of the Sun-Earth system,

we obtain the following results:
1) The increment of the average distance Earth-Sun is
r = (23.94 0.71)meters/year
2) The increment of the sidereal period of Earth is
T = (8.42 0.24)milliseconds/year
See the derivation of the results above here [6].
In the case of the Earth-Moon system, but also taking
into account the tidal effects the Moon has on Earths
rotation, we obtain the following results:
1) The increment of the average distance Moon-Earth is
r = (10.85 0.21) cm/year
2) The increment of the sidereal period of the Moon is
T = (1.06 0.02) milliseconds/year
See the derivation of the results above here [7].

VI.

tation of a satellite. The angular momentum of the satellite is proportional to its mass m and the angular velocity
. Because of the conservation of the angular momentum, since the mass decreases according to the relation
m m0 (1 t) the angular velocity should increases according to the relation 0 (1 + t). In other words, if
T0 is the period of the rotation today, then the decrement
of the period at time t will be T = T0 t. Lets say for
instance that T0 = 1sec. After one year the period will be
shorter by T = T0 t = (1sec)(1.69 1018 )(1year) =
53.3 picoseconds.

EXPERIMENTAL TEST.

We can test the validity of the idea that the rest mass of
any particle decreases with the time by examining the ro-

[1] https://www.scribd.com/doc/278120285/Determinationof-the-Function-f-t
[2] https://www.scribd.com/doc/274860167/AstronomicalData-Methond-of-Residuals-Simulations, pages 1-16.
[3] https://www.scribd.com/doc/274860167/AstronomicalData-Methond-of-Residuals-Simulations, pages 17-18.
[4] https://www.scribd.com/doc/274860167/AstronomicalData-Methond-of-Residuals-Simulations, pages 19-22.

VII.

CONCLUSION.

We can explain the accelerating expansion of the universe by just assuming that the rest mass of any particle
decreases with the time. The model, which is based on
this idea (decreasing-mass model) fits perfectly to the
astronomical data. If the idea of decreasing of mass is
right, then we should expect to observe some effects to
the planetary orbits: 1) Each planet is gradually receding
from the sun into a higher orbit. 2) The orbital rotation
is slowing slightly with the time. We can test the validity
of the idea that the rest mass of any particle decreases
with the time by measuring the increment of the rotation
of a satellite.

[5] https://www.scribd.com/doc/274860167/AstronomicalData-Methond-of-Residuals-Simulations, pages 23-27

[6] https://www.scribd.com/doc/278120278/PlanetaryOrbits
[7] https://www.scribd.com/doc/271425614/The-EarthMoon-System