'We Still Can't See Dark Matter. But What If We Can Hear It?' (space.com) 23
"We may have accidentally detected dark matter back in 2019," writes ScienceAlert.
"What if instead of trying to see dark matter, scientists attempted to hear it instead?" asks Space.com: New research suggests dark matter could leave a tiny but discernible imprint in the cacophony of ripples in spacetime called "gravitational waves" that ring through the cosmos when two black holes slam together and merge... Fortunately, when it comes to detecting gravitational waves from colliding black holes, humanity's instruments, such as LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), are getting more and more sensitive all the time...
Vicente and colleagues searched through data gathered by LIGO and its fellow gravitational wave detectors, KAGRA (Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector) and Virgo, focusing on 28 of the clearest signals from merging black holes. Of these, 27 appeared to have come from mergers that occurred in the relative vacuum of space. One signal, however, GW190728, first heard on July 19, 2019, and the result of merging binary black holes with a combined mass of 20 times that of the sun and located an estimated 8 billion light-years away, seemed to carry the telltale trace of this merger occurring in a region of dense, "buttery" dark matter.
The team behind this research is quick to point out that this can't be considered a positive detection of dark matter, but does say it gives us a hint at what to look for and thus where to direct follow-up investigations... "We know that dark matter is around us. It just has to be dense enough for us to see its effects," said team leader Josu Aurrekoetxea, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Physics. "Black holes provide a mechanism to enhance this density, which we can now search for by analyzing the gravitational waves emitted when they merge."
They published their results this week in the journal Physical Review Letters.
"What if instead of trying to see dark matter, scientists attempted to hear it instead?" asks Space.com: New research suggests dark matter could leave a tiny but discernible imprint in the cacophony of ripples in spacetime called "gravitational waves" that ring through the cosmos when two black holes slam together and merge... Fortunately, when it comes to detecting gravitational waves from colliding black holes, humanity's instruments, such as LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory), are getting more and more sensitive all the time...
Vicente and colleagues searched through data gathered by LIGO and its fellow gravitational wave detectors, KAGRA (Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector) and Virgo, focusing on 28 of the clearest signals from merging black holes. Of these, 27 appeared to have come from mergers that occurred in the relative vacuum of space. One signal, however, GW190728, first heard on July 19, 2019, and the result of merging binary black holes with a combined mass of 20 times that of the sun and located an estimated 8 billion light-years away, seemed to carry the telltale trace of this merger occurring in a region of dense, "buttery" dark matter.
The team behind this research is quick to point out that this can't be considered a positive detection of dark matter, but does say it gives us a hint at what to look for and thus where to direct follow-up investigations... "We know that dark matter is around us. It just has to be dense enough for us to see its effects," said team leader Josu Aurrekoetxea, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Physics. "Black holes provide a mechanism to enhance this density, which we can now search for by analyzing the gravitational waves emitted when they merge."
They published their results this week in the journal Physical Review Letters.
LoFi (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
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"Dense buttery dark matter" (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
If you think it's butter, but it's not, it's Chiffon.
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misleading headline relies on misusage of word (Score:3)
"New research suggests dark matter could leave a tiny but discernible imprint in the cacophony of ripples in spacetime..."
The kind of "cacophony" you cannot "hear".
Also:
"This is simply because it doesn't interact with light."
Is it "simply" because of that though? Then they correct this very claim later:
"In other words, atoms do interact with light (more technically, electromagnetic radiation). In fact, the only way astronomers know dark matter exists is via its interaction with gravity and the way this interaction curves spacetime, indirectly influencing ordinary matter and light."
LOL. Good think we'll be able to use our ears soon.
Re:misleading headline relies on misusage of word (Score:4, Informative)
"buttery"? (Score:2)
Spreading dark matter sounds so yummy indeed, and all it took was a black hole to find it.
I think youd have an easier time (Score:3)
seeing a math error than hearing it.
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
Thinking of 'math errors', last year the most anti-science administration in the history of the US attempted to eliminate one of the two LIGO sites, reducing sensitivity and eliminating its directionality. The attempt failed this time, but likely will reappear.
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C'mon, Donnie, you can do better than that. Tell us again how Emperor Xi is your favorite dictator and that Putin is a "strong leader" and how your Geheime Staatspolizei are keeping those naughty transsexuals from using the "wrong" toilet and the enemies you generate with wild abandon from getting one up on you. You know, the things your Maggots really care about.
patterns (Score:2)
Our brains are good at detecting spatial patterns with our eyes. They are better at detecting patterns in time with our ears. I think bringing a new dimension to the task of understanding "dark matter" has merit. It certainly inspires a new approach and way to think about it. The quotes around dark matter are because I think they are way off on what it really is.
what if you could smell dark matter (Score:2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Things that go ... (Score:3)
And if we *can't* hear it... (Score:2)
It would have to be called "silent" dark matter I guess!
Misread (Score:2)
"We may have accidentally deleted dark matter back in 2019"
?
Hear? (Score:2)
"Hear" is being arbitrarily used to denote something other than "see" in the all-electromagnetic-radiation-is-light sense. But gravity wave are a different communication vector completely. I wonder if that community needs to come up with a different word (other than "detect"), that maybe doesn't try to connect to a real human sense, since humans can't feel it.
I vote for "floomp".
Directionality (Score:2)
An alternative to dark matter (Score:2)