jeudi 28 juillet 2016

Dark Matter for Laymen

Can someone explain Dark Matter to me in a way that makes sense? I'm not a dummy (at least not in my opinion), but I also know that I don't have the physics chops to figure it out on my own. I've read some wikipedia, but around halfway down the page I get lost. It's just that tiny bit too technical for me to really grasp.

Here's what I think I know:
  • Measurements of cosmic background radiation and the speed at which galaxies move indicate that there's a whole lot more matter out there than what we can observe
  • Dark matter is dark because it doesn't interact with electromagnetic radiation
  • Dark matter does interact with gravity
  • Dark matter does (?) interact with the weak nuclear force

So here's some of my ignoramus questions that I'd like to get a better understanding of:
  • Why are neutrons and neutrinos ruled out?
  • Isn't the weak nuclear force already joined up with electromagnetic force - isn't it the electroweak force?
  • How do we know it's not just one of the many theorems being referenced that is off a bit? Wikipedia refers to the virial theorem quite a bit, not that I understand it.

Clearly, I don't get it. But just as clearly, people who have all the right training to understand this seem to think it's a legitimate thing. Can anyone explain it to me in a way that I can follow?


via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/2ad6gzw

Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire