Physicists have suggested that dark matter exists in another dimension

Physicists have suggested that dark matter exists in another dimension
Physicists have suggested that dark matter exists in another dimension
Anonim

American physicists have theoretically substantiated the possibility of the existence of a special type of forces that explain the property of dark matter to escape observation. To describe them, the authors applied a mathematical approach based on the principle of additional dimensions. The research results are published in the Journal of High Energy Physics.

Scientists estimate that dark matter accounts for about 85 percent of the material universe. But, unlike ordinary matter, dark matter cannot be detected or its properties can be lost, since it does not absorb, reflect or emit light.

Physicists from the University of California at Riverside have suggested that there is an additional dimension in space-time, in which dark matter must be sought. This hypothesis is a variant of the theory of self-interacting dark matter (SIDM - Self-interacting dark matter) - according to it, virtually invisible particles interact with each other through an unknown dark force, as a result of which they stop behaving like particles and become completely invisible.

“We live in an ocean of dark matter, but we know very little about what it can be. We know that it exists, but we do not know how to look for it, and we cannot explain why we did not find it where we expected it "Over the past decade, physicists have come to understand that dark matter interactions can be controlled by hidden dark forces. They can completely rewrite the rules of how one should look for dark matter."

The authors proved that the action of dark forces, due to which particles are mutually attracted or repelled, can be described using the mathematical theory of extra dimensions.

"The observable universe has three dimensions. We speculate that there may be a fourth dimension, which only dark forces" know ". An additional dimension may explain why dark matter is so well hidden from our attempts to study it in the laboratory," says the scientist.

The researchers note that while extra dimensions may seem like an exotic idea, it is actually a well-known mathematical trick for describing three-dimensional quantum mechanical fields that do not contain ordinary particles. In mathematics, it is called the holographic principle. It is believed that it is not suitable for describing natural systems.

Ordinary forces are described by one type of particle with a fixed mass. The key feature of the theory proposed by the authors is that dark matter particles are described as a continuum - an infinite number with different masses.

According to the authors, previous models of dark matter were based on theories that mimic the behavior of visible particles. But in the real world there are no analogues of dark forces, and real matter may not interact with them.

The researchers call their model a "continuum" version of the theory of self-interacting dark matter. Unlike the classical version, it describes the interactions of not identical particles, but their continuum.

"Our model goes further and simplifies the explanation of the cosmic origin of dark matter than the model of self-interacting dark matter. This is a more realistic picture for dark force," concluded Tanedo.

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