The way physicists represent the universe and its history are described in Einstein's equation of general relativity, Newton's universal gravitation, and quantum mechanics. The consensus at present supports Big Bang followed by expansion. According to Andre Maeder dark matter and dark energy are only required to make it all fit together because they ignore empty space. He argues empty space and its properties do not change following a dilation or a contraction.
Empty space has a primordial role in Einstein's equation – it is a cosmological constant. Maeder is now re-examining the Standard Model of the universe, pointing out the scale invariance of empty space is also present in the fundamental theory of electromagnetism. He found his new model matched observation. He also found that his model predicts the accelerated expansion of the universe without having to factor in dark energy. It seems dark energy may not actually exist – as some people hav e pointed out previously. The paper is published in the Astrophysics Journal – see https://phys.org/print430559315.html – and see also https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.11425