The original application of general relativity to the universe showed that the universe is expanding, albeit at a decreasing rate. Supernova data have established that although early in its history the universe was expanding at a decreasing rate, the rate of expansion has been increasing for the past several billion years. Einstein’s equations were modified by adding the cosmological constant to make the expansion of the universe accelerate and fit the data, giving birth to the notion of dark energy. However, there is to date no good explanation of dark energy. This paper proposes that Einstein’s original equations be left alone and that instead, the model assumed for the expanding universe be changed: from a single uniformly isotropic expanding space universe of constant mass to a similarly expanding universe surrounded by an isotro pic, uniform shell. The overall mass of the structure remains constant. This new geometry produces the observed expansion behavior of the universe and is simply a result of different initial conditions.
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