by Jack Lee
The mystery of dark matter has been around since its gravitational pull caused some celestial bodies to behave in ways they shouldn’t. Let me clarify that, certain planets, comets and other masses should not be in the orbits they were. . . unless those orbits were being affected by an unseen gravitational force – i.e. dark matter; also known as the glue of the universe.
What is dark matter? According to the Strong Equivalence Principle (SEP) theorized by Einstein, all forms of mass and energy produce a gravitational field. And there it is the simple explanation. Its energy. Energy can have a gravitational force, but it does not necessarily have a mass so that we can see it. The fascinating part here is energy can not be created nor destroyed, it’s always with us in one form or another. Thus suspended nondimensional energy remains as dark matter, possibly forever.
Alright, for now lets just agree that dark matter is a form of energy. The next question is, how did it get there, what is it and how long can it last? The first answer is the Big Bang, but the second and third questions are…it all depends.
Imagine an atomic bomb exploding in a flash of light and within that flash of light is energy. It is not solid matter, but it is visible because in this case it’s moving concurrent with light. But, all matter is subject to the tugs of gravity from all other types of matter, both visible and invisible. Therefore this atom bomb energy is subject to resistance and soon the light which is accompanying it and moving at 186,000 miles per second leaves its partner (energy) behind…in the dark, but only fractionally so. The two forces of light and energy seem to be as one, yet they are separate entities and the speed at which they travel is relative only to the energy part, but not the light, light is a constant at least in the vacuum of space.
Now translate this little bang, the atomic bomb explosion, over to the Big Bang theory. Dark matter is the remnant energy that didn’t find a home as a solid body. Its a composition of energy from matter and anti-matter perpetually circling each other and its also another form of energy created by sub atomic particle attraction that is trapped in gravity fields of anti-matter. Dark matter exists for as long as there is not a convergence of mass. When that process starts its all over for the dark matter and something new is born, which grows larger as long as there is sufficient particulate available.
So dark matter is something you can’t see yet it exists and it has an effect on objects around it. For lack of a better term we shall call it suspended energy. It energy has failed to evolve into visible mass for more than one reason and therefore it remains as suspended energy trying to incubate itself into the next level… mass. Exactly how long it will remain dark is a question is that’s still to be solved, but it would likely depend on the type of dark matter; because not all dark matter is created the equal and it also depends on it’s proximity to other gravitational forces.
Next deep thought: In 1998 the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of very distant supernovae showed that a long time ago, the Universe was actually expanding more slowly than it is today. But, this does not fit our model for the law of physics. How could it be accelerating? No one knew how to explain it. But something was causing it. Now enters the theory of dark energy.
Albert Einstein was the first person to realize that empty space is not nothing. Space has amazing properties, many of which are just beginning to be understood. The first property that Einstein discovered is that it is possible for more space to come into existence. Then one version of Einstein’s gravity theory, the version that contains a cosmological constant, makes a second prediction: “empty space” can possess its own energy and thus pull galaxies apart from each other faster than the original energy sent them into space in the beginning.
This article is by no means the final word on anything defining dark matter, its just my theory, but its food for thought. Some day someone will write the equation that will define it, but not this day…it’s still a mystery to be solved, but we’re getting close.