The Accelerating Universe and the Second Law

TL;DR

This paper suggests that information energy from stellar gas, dust, and black holes behaves like dark energy, potentially explaining the universe's acceleration and the cosmic coincidence problem.

Contribution

It proposes that information energy, linked to star formation, accounts for dark energy and the universe's accelerating expansion, offering a new perspective on cosmic evolution.

Findings

Information energy density remains nearly constant over cosmic time.

Changes in universe information content require acceleration to increase universe size.

The magnitude of acceleration aligns with observed dark energy effects.

Abstract

The main sources of information energy in the universe are shown to be stellar heated gas and dust and black holes. Information energy has properties similar to dark energy with a significant energy density that has remained nearly constant for at least the last half of cosmic time, corresponding to an equation of state parameter, wi~-1, the value unique to dark energy. Changes in universe information content during star formation require an accelerating universe expansion in order to ensure dI>0. The size of this required acceleration is in good agreement with the observed extra doubling in universe size due to dark energy. Any information energy contribution to dark energy is determined by the extent of star formation, possibly answering the 'cosmic coincidence' question - 'Why now?'