Einstein's rings bring scientists closer to capturing dark matter

The search for the mysterious matter that is presentand has a strong influence on the Universe - it has been going on for more than a dozen years. Its elusive form is known as dark matter. And although it does not emit light, radio emission and does not interact with electromagnetic fields, its presence is still noticeable. And it is felt due to the strong gravitational effect on stars and galaxies. In addition, it has been known about its existence for a long time, but all attempts to somehow “look” at it have not been successful. However, new research is bringing this mysterious object closer to understanding. In particular, scientists have used the gravitational bending of light to unravel some of the mysteries of dark matter.

Scientists believe that dark matter does not interact with electromagnetic radiation, so it cannot be observed directly through telescopes.

Content

• 1 Invisible matter, how is this possible?
• 2 Gravitational lensing and Einstein rings
• 3 So what is dark matter – axions or WIMPs?
• 4 The nature of dark matter and its decoding

Invisible matter, how is this possible?

By its very nature, dark matter isunique - its secrecy simply amazes the scientific community. So far, there is no effective way to detect it. But not everything is so bad, science is developing, and at the same time new research is being carried out.

Unlike ordinary matter, which condenses under the influence of gravity, dark matter is distributed evenly throughout the universe.

Thus, the scientists decided that there are severalmodels to help understand dark matter. One of them says that these are such weakly interacting particles, they are called WIMPs. Another suggestion suggests that these are light particles - they are called axions. And the most interesting thing is their behavior, WIMPs behave like discrete particles, that is, separate ones, but axions are more like waves due to quantum interference.

Quantum interference is a phenomenon thattakes place in the world of particles such as atoms or electrons. When these particles move, they can pass through two or more holes, creating an interference pattern on the screen in the form of stripes or dots. This is because particles behave like waves and can overlap each other, creating amplification or attenuation. Quantum interference plays an important role in quantum physics and is used, for example, in quantum computers.

Dark matter plays an important role in cosmology,because it explains the distribution of gravitational potentials in galaxies and their clusters. Observations show that galaxies contain much more mass than visible matter such as stars and gas. Dark matter can explain this extra mass and makes up roughly 27% of the universe.

This mysterious matter cannot be found simplyyes, but there is one way to look at her interaction. The analysis of gravitational lenses, according to a new study, played a big role in this.

See also: The JUICE spacecraft was launched into space to search for life on the moons of Jupiter.

Gravitational lensing and Einstein rings

Gravitational lensing occurs whenlight from distant objects in space travels through the gravitational field of massive objects such as galaxies or galaxy clusters and is distorted and amplified in the process.

Thanks to lensing, the image of distant objects in space, such as galaxies and quasars, is distorted and enlarged, making them more visible and studied for astronomers.

One of the special types of gravitationallenses are Einstein rings, which are formed when the gravitational field of a massive galaxy located in the path of light from a rear source distorts its image. Thus, a characteristic annular image of the rear light source around the lens galaxy is formed.

It may be interesting - where are all the galaxies moving and what is a dark stream?

Astronomers use Einstein rings tostudies of dark matter surrounding nearby galaxies. The analysis of distorted images makes it possible to study in more detail the distribution of dark matter in space and its influence on the development of galaxies and the Universe as a whole. It is an important tool for expanding our knowledge and understanding of the workings of the cosmos.

So what is dark matter – axions or WIMPs?

Recent research focuses onby studying Einstein rings, which have properties similar to dark matter. For this, various tests are carried out to understand how dark matter distorts images. Thus, in the course of research, scientists paid attention to various systems in which it was possible to observe several copies of the same object around the front lens.

It is believed that dark matter emerged shortly after the Big Bang and that it was an important ingredient for the formation of galaxies and stars in our universe.

Space is full of mysteries, but gradually science finds answers to even the most complex of them, for example, recently researchers managed to unravel the secrets of an invisible galaxy.

This was necessary in order to determinehow images are distorted. They conducted detailed simulations to understand what dark matter really is - WIMPs or axions. It is interesting that the WIMP model turned out to be not so accurate, but the axions pleased the scientists - they were able to reproduce all the features of the system.

This unique discovery suggests thataxions may be more likely candidates for the role of dark matter than HIMPs. This result is of particular interest among scientists because axions can help explain lensing anomalies and other astrophysical observations. If this result is confirmed, it could be an important breakthrough in understanding what dark matter is and how it affects our universe.

The nature of dark matter and its decoding

The study, although not providingthe final answer to the question about the nature of dark matter opens up new perspectives for experimentation and testing. In the future, studies based on gravitational lensing may help establish the wave nature of axions and measure their mass.

Dark matter is made up of unknown particles that have not yet been discovered. Scientists hope that future experiments will help unlock its mysteries and help us understand more about our universe.

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Deciphering the nature of dark matter may lead toto new discoveries in elementary particle physics and the early Universe, as well as to help better understand the processes of formation and evolution of galaxies. Additional research into the impact of dark matter on cosmological phenomena can be of great benefit to science and help unravel the mysteries of our world, which is of great importance for humanity.