Is the earth growing a “beard” of dark matter?

Is the earth growing a “beard” of dark matter?

It is believed that dark matter is literally everywhere, but we cannot see it. We can only determine its gravitational presence on a large cosmic scale. Researchers of theoretical physics theorize how dark matter may look around the Earth. And their assumptions are getting a bit “hairy”.

If you believe the results of the latest computer simulation, it begins to seem that the planets of our solar system are growing quite fashionable "beards" of dark matter. This idea not only introduces us to the previously unknown interplanetary fashion trend, but also gives us hints on where to look for direct evidence of invisible matter, which presumably makes up 85% of the mass of the entire Universe.

At the moment, to find direct evidence of the existence of dark matter is incredibly difficult. But indirect evidence of its existence, the cosmos is literally full. Galactic clusters, for example, contain large amounts of matter, which we cannot see, but whose presence becomes apparent when light passes through it. Although dark matter, which is also known as non-baryonic matter, cannot interact with an electromagnetic pulse (in other words, it cannot diffuse, reflect, emit or refract light when light-normal, or baryonic matter, can) as predicted by Einstein’s theory of relativity, it is capable of distorting the space-time continuum.

Such bends of the space-time continuum can be determined with telescopes. By measuring the distortions and calculating how much visible matter is embedded in them, we will see that most of gravity is not produced by the matter that we can see (stars and galaxies), but by what we cannot see (dark matter). Over the years, astrophysicists have put forward different ideas of how dark matter interacts through gravity with normal matter and how these two types of matter are interconnected. Observations of the motion of stars and galaxies show that in order to explain the motion of stars, it is necessary that there be much more matter in galaxies than we used to think. This observation led to the hypothesis that all galaxies are framed with a halo of black matter. On a large scale, dark matter should form extended filaments along which normal matter, that is, galaxies, is built. On a smaller scale, it is believed that the “fine-grained flows” of dark matter float in the interstellar space of galaxies, evolving with them.

How does dark matter interact with individual planets?

In a new study published by the Astrophysical Journal of Astrophysics, Gary Prezho, a scientist at the NASA jet engine laboratory in Pasadena, California, describes the results of his research. His theoretical model explains a bit how streams of dark matter particles can interact with the gravitational field of our planet.

“The flow (of dark matter) can be much more than our entire solar system. In addition, there are many different streams intersecting and intersecting in the vicinity of our planet, ”said Prezho during a press release. “The particles of the flow do not reduce their speed of motion even during the interaction of dark gaseous matter with gravity during the formation of the galaxy.”

According to the results of his computer simulation of this process, when the streams interact with the planet, the streams pass directly through it, like an “ultra dense thread”, forming many “hairs” that extend over the surface of the Earth. This stream, guided by the gravitational field of the Earth, does not interact with the normal matter of the planet, it passes through it, as if it does not exist. However, it is not only about Earth; all the gravitational fields, and therefore, all the planets of our solar system must experience an intense concentration of dark matter, emitting strands of dark matter into interplanetary space. As for the Earth, dark matter flows beyond its limits, gathering in the “roots” of so-called “hairs” at an altitude of 965606 km above the surface of the planet, which is approximately equal to the double distance from Earth to the Moon. These “roots” are concentrated arrays of dark matter. The “tips” of hairs stretch to Cosmos for a distance twice that on which the “roots” are from the Earth.

Despite the fact that this hypothesis is based only on the reproduction of theoretical equations, that is, it reflects our understanding of how dark matter should behave, it can become the basis for further study of dark matter.

“If we could determine the location of the roots of these hairs, we could send a probe there in the future and get a lot of information about dark matter,” says Prejo.

“Dark matter has dodged all attempts to define it directly, which we have been conducting for the last 30 years. The roots of dark matter hairs are a very attractive object to search for, considering how dense they should be in our opinion, ”said Charles Lawrence, a physicist and principal research astronomer at the NASA jet engine laboratory.

Interestingly, the Prezho model showed that the “hairs” should contain information about what is inside the Earth, because black matter flows through it, getting a “fingerprint” of the planet, which can be used to remotely study the internal composition of the planet. Obviously, this study has some serious contradictions. The most important of them is the fact that, despite the fact that we still cannot measure dark matter particles directly, they interact with the gravitational field of the planet as the current theoretical model assumes. In addition, in order to test this theory about dark matter hairs, we need to develop a method for finding the locations of dark matter in the vicinity of the Earth.

Are the roots of dark matter hairs detected? Can their existence explain the mysteries of the universe that are not yet revealed? Who knows, but I would like to think that what we see in our solar system is only a piece of history; and the “beards” of dark matter may well be just the latest squeak of cosmic fashion.

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