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THE DARK PRESENCE OF DARK MATTER

THE DARK PRESENCE OF DARK MATTER


 Dark matter is undoubtedly one of the half-solved mysteries of the universe. The existence of dark matter is suspected in many areas of our universe and is even believed to constitute 85% of the total energy density but we cannot see it, observe it or even manipulate it by conventional means like normal matter. Dark matter is much like Ronald Weaseley’s deluminator because it ends up absorbing the light emitted by normal matter.

Dark matter is quite intriguing because even though its presence is suspected, much of its characters are still unknown. The origin of dark matter could be traced back to the 1600s. Although Jacob Kapteyn first raised speculations regarding the concept of dark matter via stellar velocities, it was Fritz Zwicky (anonymously considered as the father of dark matter) who ended up applying the virial theorem to the Coma cluster of galaxies. In simpler words, he just found it odd that a whole bunch of galaxies could remain bound together while moving at tremendous speeds even though they did not seem to possess enough visible matter to pull off this deadly stunt. Therefore, the ability of dark matter to shape various galaxies was brought into limelight.

Often people harbour the notion that antimatter is simply a fancier name for dark matter but in reality, they are widely different from each other. Antimatter is basically plain old matter with some of its properties flipped (an electron and positron for example). While dark matter is on a whole another level. Astronomers have proposed WIMPS (Weakly interacting massive particles, not the diary of a Wimpy Kid which immediately pops into our minds) as possible candidates for dark matter. Dark matter does not react with visible electromagnetic radiation but it does seem to possess some love for gravitational forces but for that, we need to procure planet-sized masses which is highly impossible. Because of this reason as well as many others, the path towards the identification of dark matter has come to a standstill but one can always hope for the best.

  -Chandrika Sarkar
Biotechnology 1st year

           

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