Interactive dark matter could explain Milky Ways missing satellite galaxies Scientists believe they have found a way to explain why there are not as many galaxies orbiting the Milky Way as expected. Computer simulations of the formation of our galaxy suggest that there should be #many more small galaxies around the Milky Way than are observed through telescopes. >>This has thrown doubt on the generally accepted #theory of #cold #dark #matter, that scientists predict should allow for more galaxy formation around the Milky Way than is seen. Now cosmologists think they have found a potential solution to the problem. >>The scientists suggest that dark matter particles, as well as feeling the force of gravity, could have #interacted with #photons and #neutrinos in the young Universe, causing the dark matter to #scatter. >>#clumps of dark matter - or #halos - that emerged from the early Universe, #trapped the intergalactic gas needed to form stars and galaxies. Scattering the dark matter particles wipes out the structures that can trap gas, stopping more galaxies from forming around the Milky Way and reducing the number that should exist. >>We dont know how strong these interactions should be, so this is where our #simulations come in. By tuning the strength of the scattering of particles, we change the number of small galaxies, which lets us learn more about the physics of dark matter and how it might interact with other particles in the Universe. This is an example of how a cosmological measurement, in this case the number of galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, is affected by the microscopic scales of particle physics. ras.org.uk/news-and-press/2503-interactive-dark-matter-could-explain-milky-way-s-missing-satellite-galaxies
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 14:17:18 +0000
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