According to researchers working on a study at Oxford University, the previous discovery which stated that our universe is expanding at an accelerated rate could be wrong. The researchers questioned the expansion theory that claims dark energy is driving the expansion of the universe.

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The scientists say that accelerated expansion theory is based on an unobserved model hence the possibility that it is not correct remains high.

In 2011, three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the expanding universe. Their studies suggested that not only was the universe expanding, but it was also expanding at an accelerated rate. This was the first time anyone had put that concept forward.

The theory was widely accepted and gave rise to the concept of dark matter - a kind of super cosmic theory that changed the standards of cosmology.  Now, however, this theory may be proven incorrect as researchers study a very large dataset backing their findings.

Lead researcher Subir Sarkar from the University of Oxford told Science Alert that "A more sophisticated theoretical framework accounting for the observation that the Universe is not exactly homogeneous and that its matter content may not behave as an ideal gas - two key assumptions of standard cosmology - may well be able to account for all observations without requiring dark energy."

The findings of Sarkar's study suggest that indeed the universe is expanding but at a constant rate. But since dark matter does not play any role in it, the accelerated expansion theory is invalid.

Sarkar acknowledges that going against an established Nobel Prize based theory is very controversial but hopes data will provide enough proof to support his claims. Further studies could establish either of the two theories as the correct one.

"Naturally, a lot of work will be necessary to convince the physics community of this, but our work serves to demonstrate that a key pillar of the standard cosmological model is rather shaky," Sarkar said.