Dark matter gets its name because it does not interact with light in any way. However, in a recently published paper, scientists have suggested that it may alter the frequency of radiation that reaches us from distant galaxies.
Dark matter
A study was recently published in Physics Letters B claiming that dark matter can create colored light. This is very strange, given that the very definition of dark matter means that it does not interact with electromagnetic radiation except through gravity.
In general, scientists do not know what dark matter is. Only known that it should exist in order to explain the observed behavior of galaxies. But what it is, no one has any idea. It is not even known whether it is in a hot state, that is, consists of particles that move very quickly, or in a cold state.
The new theory concerns cold dark matter specifically. There are several theories about what it might consist of, but one of the best candidates is heavy particles called WIMPs. Like all dark matter, they do not interact with other matter, but the products of their decay, such as gamma rays, may well do so.
Gravitational color change
But in this case, scientists suggest looking not for gamma radiation or other WIMP decay products. Instead, researchers suggest looking for the particles themselves based on the gravitational effect that is the only thing that gives them away. It is usually determined by the strange movement of galaxies and their clusters, but in a new study, scientists have suggested that they are supposed to act on much smaller objects, such as photons.
Scientists have modeled how dark matter’s gravity will affect radiation from distant galaxies as it passes through its cluster on its way to us. They determined that, depending on the characteristics of the invisible substance, the oscillations should shift to the blue or red regions of the spectrum.
The good news is that the shift is small enough that it cannot be explained by any other effect. The bad news is that it is too small for us to notice. But scientists are already working on solving this problem.
According to phys.org
