So … What is dark matter anyway?



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<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Popular mechanics"data-reactid =" 22 "> Popular mechanics

<p class = "canvas-atom-web-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "For something that is literally as old as it is. Universe, Dark matter does not get much attention outside scientific circles. ephemeral SyFy series and a late period Album of Randy Newman, data-reactid = "23"> For something as old as the universe, dark matter does not get much attention outside scientific circles. Maybe it's not because, other than a ephemeral SyFy series and a late period Album of Randy Newman, this kind of nebula star has struggled to break the barrier of pop culture.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "But the truth is that today now, dark matter has never imported more.Our own milky way is embedded in a huge cloud of it, were in search of its interactions deep in the earth, and there is whole galaxies without."data-reactid =" 24 "> But the truth is that today, dark matter has never counted anymore.Our own milky way is embedded in a huge cloud of it, were in search of its interactions deep in the earth, and there is whole galaxies without it.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "So what? is dark matter, anyway? Why do not scientists have enough, even if they do not find it? What dark and deep secrets does he hold? And could it ultimately shape the future of life as we know it? "Data-reactid =" 25 "> is dark matter, anyway? Why do not scientists have enough, even if they do not find it? What dark and deep secrets does he hold? And could it ultimately shape the future of life as we know it?

<h4 class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Why is dark matter a mystery?"data-reactid =" 26 ">Why is dark matter a mystery?

Photo credit: Courtesy: XENON1T

The history of dark matter shows how this kind of star can be elusive.

Physicists first theorized the existence of dark matter in 1933, in part because the equations showed that there was not enough observable matter in galaxies to prevent them from disintegrate and observed rotational speeds of galaxies did not match the expected results of standard physics models.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Further research has long awaited the 1970s, when Scientific instruments, from receivers to gamma-ray space telescopes, enable astronomers and physicists to confirm previous calculations and observations, as well as powerful radio telescopes. gravitational lens (where the material bends the light between its source and the observer) and strongly suggests that there was some kind of material that we could detect, but not see. "data-reactid =" 40 "> Other researches have long awaited until the 1970s., when better scientific instruments, receivers at space-based gamma radiation detectors allow astronomers and physicists to confirm the calculations and previous observations. Powerful radio telescopes also offer clues such as gravitational lens (where the material causes light to bend between its source and the observer) and strongly suggested that there was some sort of material out there that we could detect, but not see.

<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "" Everything you can see, everything you Feel, Everything you are made up represents only 5% of the universe, and the rest is made up of dark things … and we have no idea what that is. Rebecca Leane, theoretical physicist at MIT. PhD Leane's thesis was on the phenomenology of dark matter. "data-reactid =" 41 ">" Everything you can see, everything you feel, everything you are composed of, represents only 5% of the universe, and the rest are things dark … and we have no idea what it is, "says Rebecca Leane, a theoretical physicist at MIT. Leane's doctoral thesis focused on the phenomenology of dark matter.

Physicists estimate that about 27% of the total universe consists of dark matter and the rest (68%) is a similar phenomenon, called dark energy. What makes the dark matter so mysterious?

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "" The big problem is that we can not do not see it, it does not interact with the light, "says Ethan Brown, assistant professor of physics at the Polytechnic Institute of Rensselaer. (The photo at the top of this article is a composite image of optical and X-ray telescopes in which shading in blue represents the likely dark matter, even though it does not appear directly in the images.) Data-reactid = "43"> "The problem is that we can not see it; it does not interact with light, "says Ethan Brown, an assistant professor of physics at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (The photo at the top of this article is a composite image of optical and X-ray telescopes in which blue shading represents the likely dark matter, even if it does not appear directly in the images.)

In a general way, we can measure matter and energy in the universe by observing them in one of the following four interactions:

  • With electromagnetic radiation (bright light)
  • By gravitational effects
  • With other materials through the powerful nuclear force, which keeps the material together
  • With the weak nuclear force, or the interaction of subatomic particles responsible for radioactive decay

Dark matter escapes most of these observations because it does not seem to interact with the standard material at all except by gravity. But that did not stop physicists from excluding other methods.

One of Brown's areas of study is to try to capture the interactions of dark matter with normal matter in the form of liquid xenon isotopes. The 124 xenon has a half-life of one trillion times longer than the age of the universe. Massive tanks of material are driven deep into drill holes in the Earth's crust to limit background noise such as electromagnetic radiation that could interfere with measurements. Only dark matter and some subatomic particles such as muons and neutrinos can cross thousands of feet of dense rock.

Photo credit: Pallava Bagla – Getty Images

It is therefore a very "silent" piece, where the exceptionally slow natural radioactive decay of Xenon-124, or the interactions with muons, neutrinos or dark matter could cause some sort of isotope change. If we think that a subatomic dark matter particle knocks out an Xenon-124 electron, the Xenon1T experiment will see it.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "While dark matter scientists have not detected direct detection interactions with the elusive subatomic particles for the moment, they have certainly made other interesting observations, including the decay of xenon-124, only the rarest event ever recorded in human history. "data-reactid =" 66 "> Although dark matter scientists have not yet detected direct interactions with the elusive subatomic particles, they have certainly made other interesting observations, notably the decay of xenon-124 but rarest event ever recorded in human history.

<h4 class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "So what is Black matter?"data-reactid =" 67 ">So what is Black matter?

<p class = "web-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "We know more about dark matter is not than what it is. For starters, it's not dark energy. It is a kind of energy for which the proofs are also indirect, but which probably exist because the universe is growing at an increasing speed, which defies the laws of the physics of normal matter and energy. . "Data-reactid =" 68 "> We know more about dark matter is not than what it is. For starters, it's not dark energy. It is a kind of energy for which the proofs are also indirect, but which probably exist because the universe is growing at an increasing speed, which defies the laws of the physics of normal matter and energy. .

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "And dark matter is not antimatternor is it a normal matter composed of subatomic particles which have a charge exactly opposite to matter. When antimatter and matter collide, annihilation produces bursts of gamma rays. Dark matter can also produce gamma rays when it and its counterpart, black antimatter, collide to produce a standard material. "Data-reactid =" 69 "> And dark matter is not antimatternor is it a normal matter composed of subatomic particles which have a charge exactly opposite to matter. When antimatter and matter collide, annihilation produces bursts of gamma rays. Dark matter can also produce gamma rays when its counterpart, black antimatter, collides to produce a standard material.

And finally, dark matter is not simply a class different from the three families of ordinary matter such as hadrons, leptons or bosons, the latter two being formerly theoretical, but which have finally been directly observed in particle accelerators. and do not behave as we expect.

Leptons and bosons, however, give us a clue to follow. Dark matter appears as a form of matter consisting of a class or subatomic particle classes totally different. One of the most promising is called WIMP: a massive particle in weak interaction.

The WIMPs, despite their bad name, would have a mass a thousand times greater than the protons of the standard material. And the way that WIMPs are theorized to work fits perfectly with the calculations of how much dark matter must exist in the universe, says Leane. This is called the WIMP miracle.

But the WIMP are far from the only theory involved. There are also primordial black holes, which are essentially small black holes left by the Big Bang. However, we did not observe gravitational microlenses, which excludes some masses of primordial black holes as possible dark matter.

Then there are theorized particles like SIMPs and axions – and countless other potential clues. "There are more theories that I will never understand," admits Brown.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Of course, it can be quite annoying to do research when you can not really observe something that exists or is not always present, Yale researchers, for example, have discovered two galaxies that have no dark matter at all. "Data-reactid =" 75 "> Naturally, it can be quite annoying to do research when you can not really see something that exists or is not always there, for example, Yale researchers two galaxies that have no dark matter at all.

<p class = "canvas-atom-text-canvas Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "" It's hard to point to a single solution for how those could have formed, "says Shany Danieli, PhD student at Yale and co-author of two of these studies. "At first we thought it might be some kind of anomaly, but now we've found a second galaxy." "Data-reactid =" 76 ">" It's hard to find a solution to how they could have formed, "Shany Danieli, a PhD student at Yale who co-wrote two of the studies." At first we thought it might be just some kind of anomaly, but we have now found a second galaxy. "

Photo credit: courtesy Pieter van Dokkum / Yale University

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The search indicates fascinating possibilities of reducing the darkness the matter works in the universe: this dark matter interacts with normal matter via a mechanism we do not yet know – a so-called "black force", or fifth force In the universe. "data-reactid =" 88 "> Research shows some fascinating possibilities for dark matter in the universe: this dark matter interacts with normal matter via a mechanism we do not yet know – called" dark force "or fifth force in the universe.

Another idea is that dark matter interacts with more known forces than mere gravity, but with so little interaction force that we just do not have the means to reliably detect signals.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "In other words, science is far conclusive data. "data-reactid =" 90 "> In other words, science is far conclusive.

<h4 class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "What does black matter mean"data-reactid =" 91 ">What does black matter mean

Why, then, are physicists so focused on the mystery of dark matter?

"The work of particle physics over the past 50 years has been to break down the universe into its smallest components," says Brown, of RPI.

At present, dark matter does not fit with some conceptions of the functioning of the universe, especially with the standard model of particle physics.

"When we understand what dark matter is and how it behaves, it's a huge step forward in understanding the fundamentals of the universe," says Brown. "We can answer questions such as: how has the universe evolved to become what it is today?"

In addition, fundamental particle physics, including the search for dark matter, has already allowed real technological gains. Many detection tools used in the field are highly applicable to other areas such as medical imaging or nuclear security.

Leane points out that the Internet was created in part because CERN particle physicists wanted to find new ways to share data. GPS, on the other hand, relies to a certain extent on Einstein's theory of general relativity, which explains how gravity curves space and time, explains Danieli.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "We can not begin to know what could come out of it from our study of dark matter, but consider an analogue of the study of conventional matter, which gave the most fundamental technology that allows us to practically do no matter what in modern life. Without J.J. After the discovery of the electron by Thomson in 1897, we would not even have electricity, let alone computers and an Internet powered by it. "Data-reactid =" 99 "> We can not begin to find out what might come out of our study on the dark matter, but consider an analogue of the study of conventional matter, which provided the technology the more fundamental that allows us to practically no matter what in modern life. Without J.J. With the discovery of the electron by Thomson in 1897, we would not even have electricity, let alone computers and the Internet powered by it.

So, even if we still know little about dark matter today, it could very well change the way we live tomorrow.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "("You might also like")"data-reactid =" 101 ">("You might also like")

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