At the largest scales the universe looks like an enormous spider web, with long rope-like filaments, dense clumps of galaxies, and vast empty regions called voids. Ohio State CCAPP astrophysicist Paul Sutter and an international team of collaborators have developed a method to find these voids, and they made a surprising discovery: voids obey a simple mathematical equation. This formula describes the properties of all voids, no matter their size, location, or age. Since voids can now be described by such a simple equation, they offer a brand new way to test theories of cosmology and to help understand the nature of dark matter and dark energy.

Learn more at APS and InsideScience