2D projection of the cosmic web as obtained from a supercomputer simulation. Credit: Dr. Ewald Puchwein and the Sherwood-Relics collaboration
The theoretical brand-new particles might possibly represent the observations made by the Cosmic Origin Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope.
According to a brand-new study published in Physical Review Letters, it is possible that dark matter is made up of ultralight dark photons that may have contributed in warming up the universe. This hypothesis is, according to the researchers, in exceptional agreement with observations from the Cosmic Origin Spectrograph (COS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, which observes the diffuse and elaborate network of filaments referred to as the “cosmic web” that exists in between galaxies.
The information gathered by COS recommend that the cosmic intergalactic filaments are hotter than forecasts from hydrodynamical simulations of the basic model of structure formation.
” Dark photons are theoretical brand-new particles that are the force providers for a new force in the dark sector, much like how the photon is the force provider for electromagnetism” the authors James S. Bolton (University of Nottingham), Andrea Caputo (CERN and Tel Aviv University), Hongwan Liu (New York University), and Matteo Viel (SISSA) explain. “Unlike the photon, however, they can have mass. In particular, the ultralight dark photon– with a mass as little as twenty orders of magnitude less than that of the electron– is an excellent prospect for dark matter.”
” Since dark photons would have the ability to transform into low-frequency photons and warm up the cosmic structures,” the scientists describe “they might well describe the experimental details.”
The study has actually been performed by SISSA scientists in cooperation with researchers at Tel Aviv, Nottingham, and New York Universities.
” Dark photons are a great candidate for dark matter”
” Dark photons are theoretical brand-new particles that are the force providers for a brand-new force in the dark sector, similar to how the photon is the force provider for electromagnetism” the authors James S. Bolton (University of Nottingham), Andrea Caputo (CERN and Tel Aviv University), Hongwan Liu (New York University), and Matteo Viel (SISSA) explain. “Unlike the photon, however, they can have mass. In particular, the ultralight dark photon– with a mass as little as twenty orders of magnitude less than that of the electron– is a good prospect for dark matter.”
Dark photons and routine photons are likewise anticipated to blend like the various kinds of neutrinos, allowing ultralight dark photon dark matter to convert into low-frequency photons. These photons will warm up the cosmic web however, unlike other heating mechanisms, based upon astrophysical processes, such as star development and galactic winds, this heating process is more effective and diffuse likewise in areas that are not really dense.
The missing component
Matteo Viel explains: “Usually, cosmic filaments have been utilized to probe small scale properties of dark matter, while in this case we have utilized for the very first time the low redshift intergalactic medium information as a calorimeter, to inspect whether all the heating processes we are aware of suffice to replicate the data. We found that this is not the case: there is something missing, that we model as a contribution produced by the dark photon.”
The work recognized the mass and mixing of the dark photon with the Standard Model photon needed to reconcile the disparity between observations and simulation; this effort might drive further theoretical and observational examinations in order to explore the amazing possibility that the dark photon might make up the dark matter.
Reference: “Comparison of Low-Redshift Lyman-α Forest Observations to Hydrodynamical Simulations with Dark Photon Dark Matter” by James S. Bolton, Andrea Caputo, Hongwan Liu and Matteo Viel, 18 November 2022, Physical Review Letters.DOI: 10.1103/ PhysRevLett.129.211102.