
The ΛCDM model includes an expansion of metric space that is well documented both as the red shift of prominent spectral absorption or emission lines in the light from distant galaxies and as the time dilation in the light decay of supernova luminosity curves. The time-line in this schematic diagram extends from the Big Bang/inflation era 13.7 Byr ago to the present cosmological time. Lambda-CDM, accelerated expansion of the universe. Examples of these are modified Newtonian dynamics, entropic gravity, modified gravity, theories of large-scale variations in the matter density of the universe, bimetric gravity, scale invariance of empty space, and decaying dark matter (DDM).

Some alternative models challenge the assumptions of the ΛCDM model. The ΛCDM model can be extended by adding cosmological inflation, quintessence, and other elements that are current areas of speculation and research in cosmology. It emerged in the late 1990s as a concordance cosmology, after a period of time when disparate observed properties of the universe appeared mutually inconsistent, and there was no consensus on the makeup of the energy density of the universe. The model assumes that general relativity is the correct theory of gravity on cosmological scales.

