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Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and The Fate of The Universe

This document discusses dark matter and dark energy, and their role in shaping the fate of the universe. It summarizes that: - Normal matter like stars only makes up about 4.4% of the universe, while dark matter is estimated to make up 25% and dark energy 71%. - Dark matter is inferred from its gravitational effects and is likely composed of weakly interacting massive particles leftover from the Big Bang. - The amount of dark matter impacts whether the universe expansion will continue accelerating forever or eventually slow down and collapse, with the current estimate suggesting eternal expansion. - However, the observed acceleration of expansion is not predicted by just dark matter and suggests the influence of an unknown dark energy.

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Vishvaksen Chintamaneni
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27 views

Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and The Fate of The Universe

This document discusses dark matter and dark energy, and their role in shaping the fate of the universe. It summarizes that: - Normal matter like stars only makes up about 4.4% of the universe, while dark matter is estimated to make up 25% and dark energy 71%. - Dark matter is inferred from its gravitational effects and is likely composed of weakly interacting massive particles leftover from the Big Bang. - The amount of dark matter impacts whether the universe expansion will continue accelerating forever or eventually slow down and collapse, with the current estimate suggesting eternal expansion. - However, the observed acceleration of expansion is not predicted by just dark matter and suggests the influence of an unknown dark energy.

Uploaded by

Vishvaksen Chintamaneni
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and

the Fate of the Universe


Mass within Sun’s
orbit:
1011 MSun

Observable stars
and gas clouds:
~few 109 MSun
Dark matter and dark energy

Dark Matter: An undetected form of mass that emits little or


no photons, but we know it must exist because we observe
the effects of its gravity

Dark Energy: An unknown form of energy that is causing


the universe to expand faster over time
What is the Universe made of?

• “Normal” Matter: ~ 4.4%


– Normal Matter inside stars: ~ 0.6%
– Normal Matter outside stars: ~ 3.8%
• Dark Matter: ~ 25%
• Dark Energy ~ 71%
Spiral galaxies all tend to have flat rotation curves
indicating large amounts of dark matter
The visible
portion of a
galaxy lies
deep in the
heart of a
large halo of
dark matter
measure the
velocities of
galaxies in a
cluster from
their Doppler
shifts

Mass is 50 x
larger than
the mass in
stars!
Clusters contain
large amounts hot
gas: emits x rays

Temperature of hot
gas tells us cluster
mass:

85% dark matter


13% hot gas
2% stars
Gravitational lensing of background galaxies also tells us
the mass
What is dark matter made of?

• Ordinary Dark Matter (MACHOS)


– Massive Compact Halo Objects:
dead or failed stars in halos of galaxies

The
• Extraordinary Dark Matter (WIMPS) Best
– Weakly Interacting Massive Particles: Bet
mysterious neutrino-like particles
MACHOs do not
cause enough
lensing events to
explain all the
dark matter
Why Believe in WIMPs?

• There’s not enough ordinary matter

• WIMPs could be left over from Big Bang

• Models involving WIMPs explain how galaxy


formation works

Gravity of dark matter is what caused protogalactic clouds


to contract early in time
WIMPs don’t
contract to
center because
they don’t emit
photons, so
they can not
radiate away
their orbital
energy
Maps of galaxy positions reveal extremely large
structures: superclusters and voids
WIMP models agree better with observations
Fate of
universe
depends
on the
amount
of dark
matter

Critical
Lots of Not enough
density of
dark matter dark matter
matter
Amount of dark matter
is ~25% of the critical
density suggesting fate
is eternal expansion

Not enough
dark matter
But expansion
appears to be
speeding up!

Dark Not enough


Energy? dark matter
Brightness of distant white-dwarf supernovae tells us how
much universe has expanded since they exploded
Accelerating universe is best fit to supernova data

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