The observations by the Dark Energy Survey and the South Pole Telescope chart the distribution of matter with the aim of understanding the competing forces that shaped the evolution of the universe and govern its ultimate fate.

The extraordinarily detailed analysis adds to a body of evidence that suggests there may be a crucial component missing from the so-called standard model of physics.

The results did not pass the statistical threshold that scientists consider to be ironclad enough to claim a discovery, but they do come after similar findings from previous surveys that hint a crack could be opening up between theoretical predictions and what is actually going on in the universe.

Since the big bang 13bn years ago, the universe has been expanding, but matter has also been cooling and clumping as gravity pulls denser areas together, creating a cosmic web of galaxy clusters and filaments.

As scientists have worked to understand this cosmic tug of war, a bizarre picture has emerged in which only about 5% of the contents of the universe are accounted for by ordinary matter.

“For example, supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies can produce huge jets of radiation that can, in principle, push the matter around and smooth it out a bit,” he said.