Dark Matter

As the name suggests, dark matter is “dark”; that is, not visible to the naked eye. It is widely theorized that dark matter neither absorbs nor emits any form of light. This means that the composition of dark matter is unknown. One of the primary methods of determining the composition of other matter in the universe is by spectrometry, which involves analyzing the light emitted by that matter. This does not apply in the case of dark matter for obvious reasons. Though the structure of dark matter is unknown, there have been different forms of it theorized. These include; baryonic dark matter (also called Rydberg matter)3, hot dark matter4, warm dark matter, and cold dark matter.5 It is still not understood what significance these subcategories of dark matter hold. At current time, only one known particle is classified as potentially being dark matter, and that is the neutrino.6 Neutrinos are unique to any other particles known to man, primarily because they contain no electric charge. Neutrinos are extremely low mass and can easily pass through matter.7 For these reasons, neutrinos are thought to be one of the potential particles of dark matter.

Currently, one of the only effective ways to detect dark matter in deep space is to use much the same method Zwicky did 70 years ago. The virial theorem used by Zwicky and astrophysicists today gives an accurate prediction of the relationship between a system’s kinetic energy and potential energy (appendix C). The virial theorem is a primary element in locating what could potentially be dark matter.