[Ethos_ (OP)]

One new theory which is receiving a great deal of attention lately is referred to as The Holographic Universe. The idea is that we all live on a two dimensional sphere at the edge of the universe. And we only experience three dimensions because of the holographic effect. Whether this is a true representation of reality, I'm afraid we will all have to wait for better evidence than we now have. In any event, this theory got me to thinking about the evidence we have recently observed about the accelerating character of our universe. This evidence, when first found, astounded the scientific community. And to date, we have no explanation for this acceleration except Dark Energy.

The evidence for Dark Energy is still waiting, as it were, in the wings. This got me to thinking about another explanation. We should all be familiar with what a light sail is. This device was suggested as a means of propulsion for distant voyages in space. In effect, this craft would have an enormous sail that would be pushed along by the action of light pressure coming from our own sun. After a calculated period of time, this means of propulsion would approach very high velocities. Accelerating from start to finish, where ever the destination might have been conceived to be.

What if the Holographic Universe is correct, and we live on the surface of this giant sphere we call the edge of our universe? Would this sphere act like a giant light sail, gathering all the light from the Big Bang to the present. Maybe this is the reason we still see our universe accelerating?

Just a thought, maybe some of the members here are proficient enough with math to answer this question?  As for myself, I don't have the talent nor the skill to address this question.

[Ethos_ (OP)]

This idea occurred to me after watching a documentary about the big debate between Hawking and Leonard Susskind. Evidently, the direction that the theory behind the Holographic Universe has taken is gathering much interest among the scientific community. This debate between them was regarding the issue about the loss of information within a black hole. Eventually, Susskind has won this argument and Hawking has conceded that he was wrong.

The question I'm raising is this: If the Holographic image of the universe is correct, could not the acceleration we observe be the result of the gathered light upon this outer two dimensional shell?