Dark energy has a constant density as the universe expands.
Doesn't this suggest that the baryonic mass of the universe is
expanding in
a substance of constant volume and density that occupies a volume far
larger than the universe itself currently occupies?

Dear alistair:

"alistair" wrote in message
m...
Dark energy has a constant density as the universe expands.

No. Dark energy is not uniformly distributed.

Doesn't this suggest that the baryonic mass of the universe is
expanding in
a substance of constant volume and density that occupies a volume far
larger than the universe itself currently occupies?

No. The theory that Dark Energy was invented is to support, has space as a
product of mass/energy. So expansion is merely an adjustment in the
relationship between collections of mass/energy. That relationship is in
the balance between spacetime and its "issuor".

Realize that whereever you look, if you look back 12.7 Gy ago, you see the
last glimmers of the Big Bang, namely the CMBR. We are expanding "into" no
space or void, but perhaps shrinking "with respect to" the past.

David A. Smith