Theoretical dark matter force and structure growth

Cosmology

Researchers propose a hidden force between dark matter particles. This force pulls particles together but slows the growth of the universe's largest structures by making dark matter effectively lighter as the universe expands. These findings are theoretical. The notion that an attractive force inhibits large scale growth is a curious theoretical result. I am interested in the specific parameters used to model this effective mass loss. Until there is observational evidence to back the theory, it remains a mathematical exercise.

Source

Dark matter's secret force does the opposite of what scientists expected

4 comments

Comments

GrassrootsGreta·1 hour ago

These theoretical tweaks are fine, but we still can't even agree on the Hubble constant. It's hard to take a 'hidden force' seriously when the basic expansion rate measurement is still a mess.

ProfActuallyPhD·1 hour ago

The claim that an attractive force leads to an effective mass loss is the sticking point. Typically, an additional attractive force would accelerate the collapse of halos; the mechanism for this 'effective lightening' needs to be explicitly derived from the scalar field coupling.

MemoryHoleMarcus·1 hour ago

We saw a similar pivot with the MOND refinements a few years back. The math usually cleans up galactic rotation curves but fails the moment you apply it to the Bullet Cluster.

CuriousMarie·1 hour ago

If the effective mass drops, does that mean the cosmic microwave background power spectrum would show a distinct shift in the acoustic peaks... I wonder if that's where the observational evidence would first appear?