What is Dark Matter? A New and Eerie Theory
Scientists believe that matter — humans, peanut butter, mountains, water, planets, etc.— makes up only 5% of the Universe. The rest is made up by dark matter (27%) and dark energy (68%). What is this dark matter and dark energy? Well, that’s where it gets interesting: at this point, no one really knows. But as we head into Halloween season I’d like to pitch my own theory... ghosts.
Okay, okay, so it might more accurately be described as a hypothesis at this point.
Stay with me, friends, and allow me to present my eerie and chilling defence!
Existing theories
Before getting into my theory, let’s outline the existing, science-backed theories for dark matter. From what I can see, in 2020 there are about four curious and interesting theories currently in the running.
WIMPS: The most popular and well-researched theory is that dark matter is made up of some kind of yet-undiscovered “dark matter particle” called (I’m not joking) WIMPs. WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles) are (in theory) large, heavy and cold particles that bumble around through the Universe invisibly, since they don’t emit or absorb light. Not able to be explained through currently-known particles, WIMPs grow out of a string-theory physicist idea of supersymmetry, which basically suggests that every particle has a shadow sparticle: for example, every quark would have a squark, which honestly sounds so adorable that I hope it’s true. However, despite decades of searching, no WIMPS have been found in the wild. Excitingly, some big new experiments starting up this year might take us on the final lap towards finding out, once and for all, if they do indeed exist… or not.
SIMPS: It makes sense to introduce the newer, WIMP-rhyming theory next: SIMPs (strongly interacting massive particles). SIMPS are explained as somewhat smaller and much more active than WIMPs, dispersing themselves out into the Universe in ways that observations seem to support. However, they were only first conceived around 2014 so no study results yet!
Axions: Another, much-lighter hypothetical particle has also been pitched as a solution for dark matter: the axion. Axions (unlike WIMPs) would be very light and in plentiful supply, explaining why we haven’t detected them so far, and also how they could possibly make up a big chunk of the mass of the Universe. Although there might be some promising preliminary results to experiments, axions still live in the land of the hypothetical.
Sterile neutrinos: What I’m calling the “fourth Musketeer theory of neutrinos” is another possible explanation for dark matter. This theory suggests that there’s a fourth type of neutrino called a sterile neutrino: tiny, numerous, and almost-weightless, the theory is that the other three types of neutrino can vibrate into a sterile neutrino state, before re-emerging as one of the other three more “normal” types of neutrinos. But there are inconsistent results to experiments looking for it thus far. Not that it keeps folks from searching!
Despite all the hunting for WIMPs, SIMPs, axions and sterile neutrinos, the issue of what dark matter is very much has not been solved. Some scientists have even started to question if it exists at all! But, I would humbly like to propose, it is because they have not yet had the chance to contemplate my theory of dark matter: GHOSTS (Ghostly Haunts of Strange graviTational Significance).
The GHOSTS theory of dark matter
Are you dying in anticipation to find out about my theory? Well, in that case I’d love to study you, because what I’m proposing is: ghosts*.
Let me present my defence.
Let’s begin by discussing the most obvious similarities. Dark matter is, by definition, something we cannot observe or see using normal methods since it doesn’t reflect or absorb light: it’s invisible. It exists in-between and around the things we call “matter”, undetectable by normal methods. New Hubble Space telescope evidence also suggests that dark matter is cold. Do these descriptions sound like anything else you’ve heard of??!
Do you know what we have more of than living things? Dead things. According to PRB, 108 billion+ humans have existed across the Earth’s history, meaning that “those of us currently alive represent about 7 percent of the total number of humans who have ever lived” – very close to the 5%-matter-to-95%-dark matter/energy ratio suggested by scientific experts. COINCIDENCE?? For the sake of my ghostly theory here, I would like to suggest I think not!
The next leg of my defence takes us into research on consciousness. In short, the scientific community still does not understand what exactly consciousness and experience is – this is often referred to as The Hard Problem of Consciousness. Where does consciousness live in the body or brain? What’s it made from? Where does this consciousness thing (the Greeks called this the soul or psyche) go when we die? My suggestion is that consciousness is, in fact, made up of dark matter. We seem to have two invisible and mysterious substances baffling scientists – is it so ludicrous to suggest that they might be related?
Physics is, in fact, already being used as a tool to try and understand consciousness. I am simply suggesting that another prong of the Physics toolbox (i.e. all the research going towards the study of dark matter) be employed to study the mystery of consciousness. Going even further, could we pull the theory of panpsychism from the fringes, and suggest that ALL matter has a consciousness inherent to it? If “energy cannot be created nor destroyed” then surely this is true for dark energy too, meaning that the consciousness of every bit of matter that exists or has ever existed is perhaps out in the Universe, holding galaxies together and expanding our Universe with their ghostly vibes.
I hope that the chilling hug of a dark matter ghost continues to hold our galaxy tightly together in its invisible arms.
Happy Halloween.
*On the one hand, I hope it’s obvious that I’m writing this tongue-in-cheek. On the other hand, do ghosts sound that much more ridiculous that squarks and WIMPs?
Several stats and facts found from this NASA description; different theories nicely summarized in this 2019 Discover Magazine article. Any misinterpretations of the cosmology and physics presented here are based on my own significant lack of training in either field.
