Dark Matter

[NerdNinja]

Change the thread to "General physics discussion" , and let everyone talk about whatever they want. This is science, we can't effectively talk about anything, unless we talk about a thousand other things!

I might just do that. but all this physics and science is hurting my brain already! Even though I really like science!

[gastew15]

So... the obvious answer is explicitly yes. It does exist. In some form or another. In our Universe? I don't know. But it exists. People have conceived of it. And so it exists in their minds. 

See, I know that's a BS answer, but that's because the question isn't constrained enough. "Is it real?" is a better question. Because being real is based in reality or "that which we can perceive" or "the physical manifestation of our world". Or whatever you wish. 

 

I do. 

 

That's not how I heard it explained.

Basically, the math for the current universe doesn't work. There's too much matter missing for it to be as it is now. Dark Matter is a way to explain the missing normal Matter in the Universe. 

Matter affects other things by Gravity. We can see that galaxies have tons of matter and thereby huge effects on other objects (other galaxies), however we see more than you'd expect to see. Basically. 

Very watered down, but that's why. We are trying to understand Gravity (The one force governing the universe that we understand the least of the 4 that do).

No, you had it right. Energy doesn't have gravity (unless it's dense enough to be matter, but then it's not energy). Matter is made of energy.

This is all speculative, and I don't know anything in depth about the subject enough to answer my own question, so I'm going to ask you it instead, "Would it be possible that some massive Energy was released that turned into all of the missing matter that we never had accounted for or several accorances like that had happened?" I mean I doubt that would have happened, but I mean we are talking about a whole different kind of matter here, so in my head something as crazy as that can sort of make sense.

[lucky74dog]

I think I am going to make a general physics discussion thread. In physics, there is just so much to talk about, so one thing to discuss is too little.

[NerdNinja]

I think I am going to make a general physics discussion thread. In physics, there is just so much to talk about, so one thing to discuss is too little.

Well don't expect me to participate. My brain would probably explode!

[chaozbandit]

Just as the answer to every automotive question is "Miata," the answer to every physics related question regarding "What is ... made of?" should be "Higgs Boson." It's also known more commonly as the God particle. There. Job done.

[lucky74dog]

New physics thread:http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/127937-general-physics-discussion-thread/

[Almercenary]

What else is taking up the universe.  I mean, there has to be something out there right.  Whether it's dark matter or not is a different story. It could be anything.  I don't think we need to know, nor do we want to.  It's like finding a different civilization on a different planet, we keep looking for them, but what would we do if we found one, are we actually ready to face up to it .  What would we do if we found out that dark matter, was, in fact a living organism, or that it existed on earth.  Personally, though,  I think a more interesting topic is anti matter, but of course, that's a completely different matter (pun inten- oh wait, not even funny).

[NerdNinja]

What else is taking up the universe.  I mean, there has to be something out there right.  Whether it's dark matter or not is a different story. It could be anything.  I don't think we need to know, nor do we want to.  It's like finding a different civilization on a different planet, we keep looking for them, but what would we do if we found one, are we actually ready to face up to it .  What would we do if we found out that dark matter, was, in fact a living organism, or that it existed on earth.  Personally, though,  I think a more interesting topic is anti matter, but of course, that's a completely different matter (pun inten- oh wait, not even funny).

Yea i agree with you. Also antimatter! Reminds me of Star Trek! Also there's an article on popsci.com that explains how a scientist has a theory on how anti matter can be used to achieve warp drive! Might interest you

[Art Vandelay]

I personally believe that our models of galactic orbit are probably incorrect, but the dark matter model could be correct.

 

Can anyone here actually provide any mathematical insight on galactic orbit models?

[Vitalius]

I personally believe that our models of galactic orbit are probably incorrect, but the dark matter model could be correct.

 

Can anyone here actually provide any mathematical insight on galactic orbit models?

The only insight I can give is unrelated to the question of Dark Matter as far as I know.

The reason spiral galaxies are flat instead of spheres is because the Super Massive Black Holes at their centers spin so fast that their gravitational field is a plane rather than a sphere like the object that produced it. 

It's kind of like the way the electromagnetic field produced by a planet works. There are holes at the top and bottom. If the Earth spun a lot faster, it would be a disc rather than a sphere with holes in the top and bottom. Same thing with the gravity of a black hole. Except instead of the north and south poles being where there is effectively no gravity, it's only the equator that has gravity. Relatively, anyway.

So instead of having objects orbiting the black hole like the moon orbits the earth (the orbit is eliptical), the objects orbit is more like a wave pattern. Such as here:

Where the wave is the trajectory of the objects in the galaxy orbiting the Black Hole, and the X axis is the Black Hole's gravitational field (where it is strongest). 

Like I said, I know that's unrelated to Dark Matter, mostly, but I thought it was freaking cool, so yeah.

Example of what a galaxy would look like from the side:

Where the purple is the radiation emitted from the north and south poles of the Black Hole. 

Although this isn't perfect since our galaxy isn't entirely a plane, the Solar System is near the Galaxies gravitational field (the X axis). 

A simple question is: "What happens to the Earth when we go through the densest part of the Black Hole's gravitation field?" which is kind of important imo. Think about it. Gravity (relative to the black hole) will be stronger there. That has to screw with the tectonic plates, our EM field, and all sorts of other wonky stuff. Even if only a bit.

IIRC, the time it takes for us to pass through that part of the field is a decade or so, and the time between each visit to that part of the galaxy is 60,000 years. Which coincides with either mass extinctions or civilizations dying out. I forget which. 

Just saying. Things to think about.

[Night]

I usually think of Dark Matter as dark eco... so if you got like...zapped with it enough you would become a cool monster thing person....