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Dark matter… If it can’t be seen, then how do we know it’s there? If it wasn’t for the effects of gravity, we wouldn’t. We’d have a galaxy filled with runaway stars and no galaxy would exist for long. But how it behaves and how it is distributed in one of the biggest cosmic cryptograms of all. Even with new research, there seems to be more questions than answers!
“After completing this study, we know less about dark matter than we did before,” said lead author Matt Walker, a Hubble Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
It is generally accepted that our Universe is predominately composed of dark matter and dark energy. Of the former, it is considered to be “cold”, stately exotic particles which coalesce through gravitation. As they evolve, these dark matter “clumps” then attract “normal” matter which forms present day galaxy structures. Through computer modeling, astronomers have simulated this growth process which concludes that galactic centers should be dense with dark matter. However, these models aren’t consistent with findings. By measuring two dwarf galaxies, scientists have found a even distribution instead.
“Our measurements contradict a basic prediction about the structure of cold dark matter in dwarf galaxies. Unless or until theorists can modify that prediction, cold dark matter is inconsistent with our observational data,” Walker stated.
Why study a dwarf instead of a spiral? In this case, the dwarf galaxy is a perfect candidate because of its composition – 99% dark matter and 1% stars. Walker and his co-author Jorge Penarrubia (University of Cambridge, UK) chose two nearby representatives – the Fornax and Sculptor dwarfs – for their study. In comparison to the Milky Way’s estimated 400 billion stars, this pair averages around 10 million instead. This allowed the team to take a comprehensive sample of around 1500 to 2500 stars for location, speed and basic chemical composition. But even at a reduced amount, this type of stellar accounting isn’t exactly easy picking.
“Stars in a dwarf galaxy swarm like bees in a beehive instead of moving in nice, circular orbits like a spiral galaxy,” explained Penarrubia. “That makes it much more challenging to determine the distribution of dark matter.”
What the team found was somewhat surprising. According to the modeling techniques, dark matter should have clumped at the core. Instead they found it evenly distributed over a distance measuring several hundred light years across.
“If a dwarf galaxy were a peach, the standard cosmological model says we should find a dark matter ‘pit’ at the center. Instead, the first two dwarf galaxies we studied are like pitless peaches,” said Penarrubia.
It is hypothesized that interactions between normal and dark matter might be responsible for the distribution, but the computer simulations say it shouldn’t happen to a dwarf. New queries to new findings? Yes. This revelation may suggest that dark matter isn’t always “cold” and that it could be impacted by normal matter in unexpected ways.
Original Story Source: Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics News Release. For Further Reading: A Method Of Measuring (Slopes Of) the Mass Profiles of Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies.
The contribution by matter, luminous plus dark matter, to the Omega term increases to ?_m ~ .28 at the scale of a large galaxy and remains on all larger structures. For structure larger than this the contribution levels off. Dwarf galaxies have a suppressed contribution. The mass to luminosity ratio scales more or less linearly with length scale until you reach the dimensions of a galaxy, where it saturates out at the ?_m ~ .28 above. So dwarf galaxies are in a sort of “hinderland” or boundary of being large scale structures.
There is still a possible contribution by neutrinos to dark matter. This will form a warm dark matter component, as opposed to dark. The contribution, stated here without going into where it comes from, is ?_? ~ mass_?(ev)/50, where for neutrino masses around .1ev (estimated from the difference between heavier and light forms) this is ?_? ~ 1/500 = .002. This is comparable to the ?_{lm} ~ .05 for luminous matter which is a reasonable contribution not much less than that of luminous matter from actual stars. Most luminous matter is in the form of intergalactic plasma or H^+ and gas inside galaxies. The neutrinos have small mass and thus will make a big contribution to the Boltzmann distribution at higher temperature.
LC
This will seem like and be labeled as sheer science fiction and fantasy here, but I must show my findings, and wonder about new fields of science, called biocosmology, exobiology, astrobiochemistry, etc. What are Dwarf Galaxies MADE OF AND LOOK LIKE ? Filamentary emissions of mitochondria muscle cells of rats !! See photo :
http://microscopyu.com/articles/fluorescence/filtercubes/violet/v2a/v2aa10desminlarge.html
http://heasarc.nasa.gov/docs/cosmic/gifs/canis.jpg
Note how the dense beady swarming stars of a dwarf galaxy, especially our companion dwarf Seque 1, and the whole entire galaxy, looks like my “Rat Cell Galaxy.” This is a filamentary emission photograph of the light of a rat cell mitochondria, the energy source and powerhouse of the cell, where ATP is. Only dwarf galaxies have 99% dark matter composition! So a dwarf galaxy could be composed of 99% living filamentary matter, what they call dark matter, and they all have peculiar, irregular shapes for different kinds of cells. DNA could be growing on the carbon nanotubes of the dwarf galaxy type. In Canis Major dwarf galaxy, a 200,000 LY long filament ring of stars streams and wraps around the disk 3 times, known as the Monoceros ring, appearing in both photos. The scientist Penarrubia said “in dwarf galaxies the stars swarm like bees in a beehive instead of moving in circular orbits like spiral galaxies.” This invalidates the #1 favored model, the CDM model. May I have fun in suggesting a new biological model for dwarf galaxies? A muscle cell galaxy along with many others interact contact along great walls of filamentary cartilage structural walls of galaxies. which is why dwarf galaxies don’t fly apart but require dark matter gravity…stars can be similar to an ionized atom of H, or C atom in spectra of cool giants, with neutron and quark quantum particle types. Yes I know this is ludicrous but imagine if what we think is bigger, is actually smaller. And when we look at smaller quantum vacuum electron microscopy, we are actually looking at larger things imprints of that even farther away then the moon. mass, size, and distance have no independent existance but are inseparable to the metamaterial fabric of reality in the dynamic matter-energy space-time metamaterial vacuum. There are hundreds of billions of cells in an animal, which is an ecosystem that is outnumbered 10 to 1 bacterial to animal cells, and which is about the same number of galaxies observed in the visible universe. Look at any dwarf galaxy photo, and see the strong resemblance to a living cell of a rat. Hence, my “RAT CELL DWARF GALAXY MODEL” will shock the world in science fiction. sometimes I almost believe it is real or possible to be true, and that everything we see in outer space is really inside something larger that could be living. where is the distinction between living and non-living matter, and why must the universe or its galaxies be non-living, existing without biology as a natural science?
Very interesting thoughts. It makes me think of those photos comparing what the Universe might look like with a neuron.
Hello Tammy,
Another great article. A few grammatical typos which you know I can’t help but point out. At the bottom of the first paragraph you should use “seem” instead of “seems” since it is referring to the plural “questions”. In the third sentence of the third paragraph, since dark matter is singular you should use “this” and then “attracts” with an s. Also, I know it is idiomatic, but it might sound better if you used “easy pickings” with an s at the end of the 5th paragraph.
I wish I were knowledgeable enough to make comments about the actual astronomy like lcrowell, but alas we all have our bailiwicks. Thanks for writing fascinating articles that even we lay people can understand.
Love ya
-J
your an idiot
That’s funny. I bet you Jamie laughed at that one. 🙂
These results follow very close to the almost year long Eris simulation that made CDM successfully predict a galaxy for the first time. And it didn’t give a “pit” central density peak but follows a power law distribution fit (fig 5)*, which makes me think Penarrubia et al is referring to older results.
But that could happen too, as lcrowell notes and IIRC other articles a hot DM contribution could slip into the basic CDM model without diverging too much from earlier predictions.
It’s not my field, but as an outsider I just don’t think this is the model result that could bring that about.
———————
* The usual nitpick applies of course, enough data fitted to power laws are actually better predicted by exponential fits, so you need to test those things.
A dwarf galaxy is likely to have ?_m less than that of a larger galaxy, which is about ?_m ~ .28. This might then attenuate the formation of mass concentrations at the center. A small collection of masses in a mutual gravitational system that is at the Virial limit will maintain that configuration for a considerable time with little loss of phase space volume. This is a fancy way of saying that the stars will orbit with few being either ejected or colliding and imploding into black holes.
For matter in a distribution with a density ? the force per unit volume on a test mass m is
f = G?m/r^2.
I assume the density is constant in a spherical volume, so an integration of this over the matter volume
F = ?fdv = (G?m/r^2)(4?/3)r^3 = (4?/3)G?m r.
Hence the force on a star is similar to the dynamics of a mass on a spring, or a pendulum under small oscillations. The density scales with the ?_m. So for a smaller object (dwarf galaxy etc) the density is smaller and the force reduced.
The interaction between matter and dark matter is primarily gravitational. If neutrinos make up a portion of some warm dark matter it is likely to have some noticeable contribution if its density is not constant.
LC
Hooke’s Law of motion is like a spring, and works very well for dark matter, to explain the constant velocity that all stars have orbiting the galaxy, no difference in distance from the center of the galaxy.
Dark matter is composed of dark energy stars. There are no black holes.
that’s a cool thought
Love the line: “…cold dark matter is inconsistent with our observational data,”
Then why should we believe it?
Uniontera number 11-1, hope it helps.
Existence is the time expressed by light itself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN1jTwHUC7E
1. Arrow A is the laser work. (Same time work)
2. Arrow B is the reason of gravity. (also, Higgs boson individually / Different time work)
3. The rose line is the beginning light. (result from Bible)
4. The existence of different time. (result from relativity of light)
5. 2 dimension is not a space. (result from 2-axis, math)
6. Universe came from nothing. (result from No.5 / cf. Playing with bubbles)
6-1. A barrier[posititon] exist between the inner and outer bubbles. But universe do not have that barrier. (Cause of Inertia / Reason of Sun / Position of Antimatter / cf. Expansion)
6-2. Nothing is not a no existence. No existence is a zero dimension. There is two zero dimension. One has a position. The other doesn’t have a position. These different positions were connected by something. That “something” is not a what but a way. (Cause of Light)
7. Progress / Event / Probability is a time. (This is my trinity.)
8. Wave-particle duality of light, creation & evolution, uncertainty principle, etc. (result from No.7)
9. Coalescing of different time. (Cause of Rotation & Spin / Equator has plenty of time.)
10. Your so-called black hole is a wholly condensed time. (cf. Kerr spacetime)
11. The reason of “your so-called magnetic field”. (result from step3 and 4)
11-1. The reason of “your so-called dark matter”. (result from step3 to 4 / Energy-Mass duality / cf. Dark energy “step4 to 3”)
12. The reason of “your so-called electric field”. (result from the crack of time / Same time’s crack is a different time’s connection. / Cause of Static electricity)
13. Your so-called “space” is a crack of time. (result from No.12 / Cause of Lightning)
14. Boundary is a crack of space. (result from No.13 / Same space’s crack is a different time’s contact. / Cause of Superfluid / cf. Fractal)
15. Boundary is nothing. Your so-called hole is a boundary itself. Also, nothing is K=0 temperature. (result from No.14 / cf. Calabi-Yau, Hilbert space)
16. This is a wall of your so-called fire. (result from No.15) – copyright ? uniontera
Our nonsense has come from one time. Uniontera is a key.
English is not my first language, sorry!
If it is difficult to understand, just remember & enjoy “Hand touching everything is a time”. This is the only one result of uniontera.