Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter that cannot be directly observed. Finding them is crucial to answering some fundamental questions in physics. A team of scientists offers a surprising theory to explain dark matter.
Dark matter neither emits nor absorbs electromagnetic radiation, so it cannot be directly observed with conventional telescopes or measuring instruments. Their existence is inferred primarily from the effects they have on gravity on larger scales, such as galaxies and other cosmic structures. The existence of dark matter is important because it helps explain, among other things, why galaxies do not collapse.
But until now, scientists have failed to explain what dark matter is, even though it constitutes 85% of all matter in the universe. Various explanations for dark matter include hypothetical particles, modified laws of gravity, and theoretical constructs that require additional spatial dimensions to make the mathematics work. However, no concrete evidence has been found so far that these hypotheses could be correct.
Two American scientists take a different approach to the problem. In a paper they published On arXiv preprintThey suggest that dark matter is actually composed of tachyons. These are particles that can move faster than light and thus travel back in time. Tachyons have been discussed before, but usually they are not taken seriously because their existence contradicts current laws of physics.
The model is consistent with some observations
However, there are a few things that stand out about the paper. Scientists calculate that the expansion of the tachyon-filled universe first slows down and then accelerates again. This is consistent with observations made by scientists about the universe.
They tested their idea by applying their model to data about a particular type of supernova, so-called type Ia supernovae. In the 1990s, Type Ia supernovae were used to make measurements showing that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. The tachyon model explained this accelerated expansion as well as current cosmological models.
The next step is to apply the model to other data sets about the universe. The chance that the tachyon model also works on this is very slim. The scientists' paper has not yet been peer-reviewed.
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