Dark Matter and Dark Energy | General Science & Ability Notes

Dark Matter and Dark Energy

Q: Explain the terms Dark Energy and Dark

Matter (CSS-2018)

Dark Matter

In calculating the total mass-energy of the universe, astrophysicists find that baryonic
matter, the type composed of atoms, accounts for only about 4 percent of the total mass-
energy of the universe. The remaining 96 percent of mass is about 21 percent dark matter
and 75 percent dark energy.

Dark matter has been impossible to investigate directly because it does not interact with
electromagnetic radiation –visible light, infrared, etc. It has so far been identified only by its
effects, especially its gravitational effects on galaxies and other large-scale entities, and also
by its influence on the cosmic background radiation.

In the early universe, dark matter played a dominant role in the formation of the early
galaxies. The cold gases in the universe gravitated to scattered dark matter densities.
Where sufficient gas accumulated, star clusters and galaxies formed. Astronomers today
maintain that each galaxy is enveloped in a halo of dark matter, and the halo applies so
much force that the outside edge of a galaxy rotates about as fast as the deep interior. It is
the halo of dark matter that prevents a galaxy from flying apart.

Astronomers discovered dark matter by inference when they tried to account for the fact
that the outer edge of galaxies rotated unexpectedly fast. This unexpected phenomenon
could occur only in the presence of a tremendous force. In addition, calculations showed
that the mass of galaxies far exceeded the mass of their respective baryonic matter. These
findings indicated the presence of some other type of matter, a type much more massive
than baryonic matter, and virtually invisible. Dark matter does not interact with our normal
matter except by its gravitational signature.

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Dark Matter and Dark Energy | General Science & Ability Notes

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 Dark Matter and Dark Energy | General Science & Ability Notes

There are many candidates for the source of dark matter. Neutrinos were of interest for
some time, as as these particles are especially profuse in the universe and do not interact
with baryonic matter. However, neutrinos account for only a miniscule percent of the total
amount of dark matter. A particle predicted by string theory, the neutralino, is another
candidate; and another possibility is a theoretical particle called an axion. Some of the
elusive dark matter may be baryonic matter of a particularly non-interacting type. But all
these candidates are speculation for the time being. One of the objectives of the CERN
Large Hadron Collider is to identify dark matter.

Dark Energy

Like dark matter, dark energy is understood by its effects, and scientists really have no idea
what it is. It is the force thought to be responsible for the observed accelerating expansion
of the universe. In that expansion, objects most distant from us are speeding away faster
than those that are closer. Dark energy is one of the major mysteries of the universe,
subject to a host of hypotheses. A real explanation may be have to wait for a technological
probe that is able to analyze it.

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