Scientists Believe 80 Percent Of The Universe Was Made Of Dark Matter

JAKARTA – Dark matter cannot be observed directly by researchers because it does not emit energy or light. However, scientists believe that about 80 percent of the universe was formed from dark matter, as reported by Sputniknews.

Scientists from the University of Oslo in Norway suggested a new mechanism for how dark matter is reproduced in the universe, proposing the theory that its particles could interact with ordinary particles and turn them into dark matter, according to Physical Review Letters.

There are two models for the production of dark matter in the universe. According to a model called freeze-out, large amounts of early dark matter were in equilibrium with the standard model plasma of particles in the early Universe, but then, as the Universe expanded and cooled, the dark matter particles were destroyed more rapidly than they were created. The freezing model says that the Universe began with little or no dark matter, and then the standard model particles gave birth to dark matter.

Torsten Bringmann and colleagues from the University of Oslo have come up with another model. According to the new theory, small amounts of early dark matter in the early universe could interact with standard model particles in a way that "contaminated" the particles and could turn them into dark matter.

The newly transformed dark matter particles can then do the same to other standard model particles, allowing dark matter to grow exponentially, spreading faster than the freezing model. Then, according to the hypothesis, this process would naturally slow down and stop as the Universe expanded, leading to the amount of dark matter observed today.

These findings suggest that there are consequences for the CMB power spectrum and other properties of the present-day universe. On the other hand, scientists believe that in order for potential mechanisms to be supported or ruled out, more in-depth observations of this dark matter are still needed.