Does dark matter exist in our universe?

Abstract

I am sure we’re all curious about what space consists of. This essay presents an
overview on the unknown elements that exist and affect our universe. Dark
matter is among the most significant open complications in modern physics.
Astronomers and physicists today believe that the matter content of the universe
is dominated by dark matter: hypothetical particles which interact with normal
matter primarily through the force of gravity. There is also a leading alternative
to this theory; Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND).

We live on ​Earth which is a part of the ​Milky Way galaxy in the universe. The
universe includes planets, stars, galaxies and the other forms of matter and
energy which haven’t been discovered yet. The Big Bang model states that the
earliest state of the universe was an extremely hot and dense one and that the
universe subsequently expanded and cooled. According to it, the universe is still
expanding and is about 13 billion years old. This theory is supported by the
redshift in the universe which indicates that galaxies are moving further away
continuously and the presence of Cosmic Microwave Background in the
universe. Einstein was the first person to realize that our universe is not empty.
Meanwhile, the amount of visible material in galaxies cannot account for their
forms and movements and so some astrophysicists claim that there must be a
form of mass undiscovered which is given the name ‘Dark Matter’. We cannot
see dark matter but it exists because of the effect it has on the visible matter that
we can witness directly. Although scientists have very little data, there is a
possibility of dark matter existence which makes up around 83% of the universe
and 25% of the energy contained in it.

The existence of dark matter was first suggested using stellar velocities in the
1900s. Understanding dark matter is vital to envisage the future of the universe.
The amount of dark matter will determine if the universe will collapse after

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expanding to a certain point, continue to expand or stop expanding after
reaching its equilibrium. It will also assist in clarifying the creation and
evolution of galaxies and clusters.

A galaxy should be torn apart as it swirls. Due to gravity, this does not happen
as it holds it together. However, the required amount of gravity cannot be
produced by the visible matter in the galaxy as it is colossal.

We currently hold dark matter accountable for the adding gravity to the galaxies
and other bodies. However, this mass doesn't seem to affect the normal matter in
any way such as by absorbing or emitting photons. There are some
characteristics of dark matter which scientists are currently certain about:

Ø​ ​It ​emanates​ no light and cannot be seen directly. Hence, it is dark.

Ø ​It is ​not ​composed of normal matter because if it was it would be noticeable

through reflected light.

Ø ​Dark matter is ​not ​antimatter because antimatter obliterates matter on

interaction, producing gamma rays. It is not detected by astronomers.

In the 1990s, there was one thing definite about the expansion of the universe
that it might have adequate energy density to collapse after stopping its
expansion or might have very little energy density that it would by no means
stop expanding, but gravity was certain to slow the expansion over time. The
slowing was just expected and not observed, theoretically, the universe was
supposed to slow. In 1998, the Hubble Space Telescope observations of a very
distant supernova revealed that the universe was expanding more slowly earlier
than in present. Thus, the expansion of the universe has been ​accelerating and
not slowing due to gravity as expected. There was no explanation to this but
something was causing it.

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 Figure 1: Dark Matter existing evidence (​nasa.gov​)

Ultimately, theorists came up with three sorts of explanations. Maybe it was a

result of a long-discarded version of Einstein's theory of gravity that contained
what was called a "cosmological constant". Or there was some strange kind of
energy-fluid that filled space. Or there is something wrong with Einstein's
theory of gravity and a new theory could include some kind of field that creates
this cosmic acceleration. Theorists are unable to mention the correct explanation
but they call it ‘dark energy’. ​(quora.com)

There are some shreds of evidence which prove that dark matter exists:

Ø ​Galaxy Clusters: ​A gravitational pull must be felt by the planets, stars and
galaxies to keep them tightly bound together and it must be ample to balance
the energy it has due to its motion. However, the visible matter mass isn’t
sufficient to keep the cluster bound. And therefore, dark matter is presumed
to be providing the pull that is holding the galaxy cluster firmly together.

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 Figure 2: Galaxy Clusters (forbes.com)

Ø ​Galactic Rotation Curves: ​The starlight from stars on the side of the galaxy
that is moving towards is blueshifted when a galaxy is rotating while the
starlight from the stars on the other side of the galaxy is redshifted. Hence,
we can state the velocity of each star in the galaxy and their patterns.

The orbital speed of a star which is orbiting the centre of a galaxy is determined
by the distribution of the mass contained within the galaxy. If we predict the
rotation curve using the laws of gravitational physics, the speed of stars should
decrease uniformly, the further away they are from the centre of the galaxy.
However, in reality, astronomers have found out that rotational speeds do not
fall off with distance as expected. Instead, stars far away from the centre of the
galaxy move faster than expected. The only way that this observation can make
sense is that a large quantity of matter which cannot be seen exists.

Ø ​The Cosmic Microwave Background: ​The CMB is affected indirectly by

dark matter’s gravitational potential and by its effects on the density and
velocity of normal matter. Ordinary and dark matter perturbations, therefore,
evolve differently with time and leave different imprints on the cosmic
microwave background (CMB).

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Ø ​Large-Scale Structure Formation: ​This denotes to the era after the Big
Bang when astrophysical objects were formed when density perturbations
collapsed. Radiation affects ordinary matter. Radiation is the leading element
of the universe since early times. As a result, its density perturbations are
washed out and unable to condense into the structure. If there were only
ordinary matter in the universe, there would not have been enough time for
density perturbations to grow into the galaxies and clusters currently seen.
Radiation doesn’t affect dark matter and it provides an elucidation to this
problem. Therefore, its density perturbations can grow first. The resulting
gravitational potential acts as an attractive potential well for ordinary matter
collapsing later, speeding up the structure formation process.

A satellite titled ​Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) was launched in

December 2015. It is a space telescope used for assistance in the search for dark
matter by leading high-resolution observations to spot high energy gamma rays,
cosmic ray ions and electrons. It aims to look for the indirect decay signal of
weakly interacting massive particles which is a hypothetical dark matter
candidate. It has recorded over 3.5 billion cosmic ray events, with maximum
event energies exceeding ~100 trillion electron volts
(​https://directory.eoportal.org/​)​.

There is another experiment; ​LUX-Zeplin which is also aiming to detect WIMP

(weakly interacting massive particles) and axions. It has been installed and has
started collecting data as of 2020.

However, as of now, there are a few dark matter replacement theories that are
feasible. The baryonic matter may perhaps make up the dark matter if it were all
tied up in small, dense chunks of heavy elements. These possibilities are known
as massive compact halo objects. But the mutual view is that dark matter is
made up of other exotic particles like axions or WIMP (weakly interacting
massive particles) and not baryonic at all.

Since the dark matter has not yet been conclusively acknowledged, many other
postulates have emerged aiming to explain the observational phenomena that
dark matter was perceived to explain. Modified general relativity is the most

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common hypothesis. General relativity is well-tested on solar system scales, but
its validity on galactic or cosmological scales has not been verified. A suitable
modification to general relativity can possibly eliminate the need for dark
matter. The best-acknowledged theories of this class are Modified Newtonian
dynamics and its relativistic generalization tensor-vector-scalar gravity, negative
mass dark fluid and entropic gravity.

A problem with proposing alternative hypotheses is that several independent

approaches provide observational evidence for dark matter. Explaining any
specific observation is possible, however, explaining all the observations is very
challenging. Nevertheless, there have been scattered successes for alternative
hypotheses in 2016 which was the test of gravitational lensing in entropic
gravity.

The prevailing opinion among most astrophysicists is that while modifications

to general relativity can conceivably explain part of the observational evidence,
there is probably enough data to conclude there must be some form of dark
matter.

In conclusion, as mentioned earlier most of the observations and shreds of

evidence prove that it is dark matter which is causing the rapid expansion of the
universe and holding the galaxies together. With all of this modern technology
and continued efforts from scientists, we might be able to figure this mystery
out.

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 References
This essay includes in-text citations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter#Notes

http://lz.lbl.gov/

https://www.sciencealert.com/dark-matter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter_in_fiction

https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/dr-marc-space/dark-matter.html

https://www.space.com/20502-dark-matter-universe-mystery-infographic.html

https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/universe_level2/darkmatter_know
.html

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-dark-matter-theory-or/

https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/five-reasons-we-think-dark-matter-exists
-a122bd606ba8

https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/aug/HQ_06297_CHANDRA_Dark_
Matter.html

"Dark Energy, Dark Matter"​. NASA Science: Astrophysics. 5 June 2015