Quote:
Originally Posted by claycravens
Could the acceleration in the expansion be a natural part of the large-scale curvature geometry of the universe?
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I'm no expert, but my answer would be no. As I understand it, the large-scale curvature of space in the universe is reflective of the gravitational potential of all the mass and energy within the universe. Recent independent observations are supportive of a very nearly flat overall curvature. But if the curvature is "less than flat", that is, if it is saddle-shaped, this just means there is not enough mass and energy to gravitationally halt the expansion. Such a curvature has no means to effect an acceleration on the expansion. An accelerating expansion must come from some as yet unknown "force," which by coincidence, is (so far) mathematically well described by Einstein's discarded cosmological constant.