As of: February 28, 2024, 8:26 a.m
By: Nico Reiter
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Dark matter is one of the universe's greatest mysteries.
Researchers say the particles have wave-like properties and are trying to make them measurable.
Hamburg – Dark matter was first described in 1933 by the Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky.
This is not visible in the visible, radio or X-ray range, as the Max Planck Society describes.
Nevertheless, it influences the universe with its gravitational force.
According to current theories, there is five times more dark matter than ordinary matter in the cosmos.
Nevertheless, little is known about it; dark matter has not yet been directly proven or even observed.
Research is trying to detect this matter directly.
Only one researcher from the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) Center has gone one step further with his study.
New theory: dark matter particles similar to electromagnetic waves
The particles that make up dark matter form so-called halos.
The new study suggests that these particles are very light.
“Ultralight matter particles behave similarly to classical electromagnetic waves,” says Hyungjin Kim, author of the study to
LiveScience
.
These wave-like properties of the particles could lead to unexpected changes.
Other recent studies claim that the density of dark matter in a halo can change spontaneously, causing entire galaxies to move.
Dark matter measurable by gravitational wave detectors?
“Imagine waves in the ocean, we see changes on the surface of the sea all the time, it changes in unpredictable ways,” Kim said.
This phenomenon would also apply to the halos consisting of ultralight particles.
If his theory that the particles behave like waves is correct, researchers could also measure them with gravitational wave detectors.
The researcher suggests measuring dark matter with gravitational wave detectors (symbolic image) © Kyodo News/Imago
“These changes happen randomly in the solar system and hit wave detectors,” says Kim.
However, through further research, he discovered that most current detectors would not be able to detect changes caused by dark matter due to a lack of sensitivity.
In the future, however, detectors will be sent into space that, according to Kim, would have a chance of detecting them, “like the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA).” The ESA probe “Euclid” should also shed light on the darkness.
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