If the person is a scientific genius, even his mistakes can lead to great discoveries. So, once albert Einstein felt that he was mistaken in his famous equation and missed his chance to discover the dark energy, which opened much later. He did not even pay attention to one small hint that I gave him Erwin Schroedinger.

Even error scientist can be a real discovery or precursor thereof. This happens especially often when talking about genius. Even when they are wrong, the result is that anyway for this bug is unknown first of science phenomenon. This in its time happened to the Creator of the theory of relativity by albert Einstein and one of the founders of modern quantum physics, Erwin Schrodinger.

As we remember, Einstein's dream was to create an equation that would have described the maximum number of parameters of the Universe. Every solution of this equation will give an answer to every unexplored physicists question, it would be universal "equation everything". And so he tried to bring something similar working on the General theory of relativity.

You probably saw that we are talking about the equation for the curvature of space-time, which, actually, and became a mathematical expression of the sense of the theory itself. We will not dwell on the analysis of the equation (you can find it here), and only will tell about its meaning. Einstein equation relates the geometry of space of the Universe with her energy. And everything that concerns the geometry is in the left part, and energy - in the right.

However, this is only a mathematical explanation of the equation, but what is his physical sense? It is very simple - under the curvature Einstein meant gravity, and the rest of the electrons and quarks that make up atoms, of which, in turn, develop matter, electromagnetic radiation, and each particle, which transmits interactions (except the gravitational) - just exist in curved space-time and in the same time determine the curvature. Simply put, in the left part of the equation describes the space of our Universe, and in right - it engine", then there is an energy source.

Now, when Einstein finished the first version of the equation, he found something that he very much liked. The fact that the great physicist was support the hypothesis of a stationary Universe that exists in certain temporal-spatial limits and for them to be issued. But, according to his own equation, we find that the universe is filled with ordinary matter, should be expanded.

Seeing this "outrage", Einstein decided that he made a mistake and did not take into account some important parameter (actually a great scientist in this case was not wrong - but more on this later). And he added in his equation certain cosmological constant parameter, which when added to the energy density of ordinary matter and radiation would not allow the Universe is neither expanding nor Contracting. Now everything fell into place - the universe has found stability and remained stationary.

Einstein was very satisfied with the result of their work, but it didn't last long - in 1922 physicist Alexander Friedman proposed a solution to the Einstein equations, which indicated that the universe is still expanding. Einstein first fiercely argued by Friedman, but finally admitted that he was right. And in 1929 Edwin Hubble, studying the effect of "red shift"definitively proved this hypothesis has in practice. Thus the idea of the stationary Universe was rejected, and that the cosmological constant was very uncertain parameter, it is not clear what meaning.

It should be noted that Einstein keenly experienced the failure of its attempts to create "just equation". Moreover, when he realized that the universe was indeed expanding, called the cosmological constant is the biggest mistake in my life. However, time has shown that no error was just in times of great physicist about our Universe knew not all.

Interestingly, the true meaning of the cosmological constant tried to tell Einstein... Erwin Schroedinger. Not so long ago the historian Alex Harvey from new York University (USA), analyzing the work of physicists, published in 1918, found that in one of them the founder of quantum mechanics "play" with the Einstein equations in a very peculiar way. He is moving constantly from left to right, and it turned cosmological constant in anything else than in the energy source of the Universe.

Einstein treated the transformation Schrodinger very skeptical. He wrote the last letter, that if you consider the cosmological constant as a source of energy, "this new energy must either be nothing, or to require the non-observed negative density in interstellar space". Well, as with anything, we know that energy can not be, it remains to dwell on the latter interpretation.

Hope you guessed it, what does this "negative density", which cannot be observed? Right, this is the same dark energy, for the detection of which in 2011 physics Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess received the Nobel prize. However, if to be exact, the award was given them for what they have proved that the universe is expanding with acceleration. But, you know, this is possible only on the assumption of the existence of this dark energy.

As you can see, it could open Einstein, but he immediately rejected even the possibility of existence in the Universe of something important that can not be observed. "The course taken by Mr. Schrodinger, does not seem to me possible because it takes too deeply into the thicket of hypotheses", - wrote the great physicist, which is not approved such a mathematical game. But if he did not immediately dismiss the possibility of such transformation, and analyzed it, it is quite possible that the award three outstanding cosmologist would not have received, it will not give for what is already revealed.