A photo from open sources
The dark matter of the cosmos is an invisible form of matter that makes up about 80 percent of the total mass of the universe. Scientists suggest that dark matter is made up of particles that, apparently, not only do not emit, but also do not absorb light. On the today theories about what the dark consists of matter of space, quite a lot. Here are the most interesting of them. Massive Particle Interaction WIMPs About 13.8 Billion Years back when the Big Bang created the universe, simultaneously with matter familiar to our understanding of matter, dark particles formed matter. From constant collisions among themselves, many of the particles burned out. However, due to the fact that the universe is gradually cools and expands, collision rate between particles slowed down, thereby preserving both matter, scientists say. First a proposal regarding the nature of dark matter particles has been put forward in the 1980s. It talked about interacting massive particles WIMPs (from the English. WIMP, Weakly Interacting Massive Particle), which are supposedly 100 times more massive than electrons. It is assumed that particles of WIMPs interact with each other through gravity, producing gamma rays. However so far despite the mass of practical experiments, confirm either scientists have not yet been able to refute this theory. Sterile neutrino Another potential source of dark matter are sterile neutrinos (hypothetical particles) that react only to gravitational forces. These tiny particles masses of which are less than one billionth proton mass appeared in the moment of the birth of the universe. Sterile neutrinos do not interact with other particles, so they slowly fade over time, leaving behind x-rays. Based on this, scientists suggest that dark matter is able to absorb dwarf galaxies, such as those that surround the Milky Way. In February this year, two independent newspapers announced detecting x-ray lines at different densities of the dark matter. So far, astrophysicists cannot explain this cosmic phenomenon. Axions The third possible source of dark matter is axions. Low mass and theoretical high abundance of these hypothetical particles gives scientists the opportunity to suggest that axions can be part of the mysterious mass of the universe. Axions appeared earlier than our universe. According to theory, they exist not only in dark matter, but also around us. Weight axions are so small that 100 quadrillion of these particles can fit in a coffee cup. To date, the assumption of the fact that dark matter consists of axions is considered the most probable. However, scientists do not exclude the possibility of presence other potential masses in the structure of the universe. During the next six years, experts are going to spend many experiments to fully understand what it actually consists of mysterious black matter. Scientists also consider the theory that dark matter may consist of a combination of all of the above particles at the same time.
Universe
