Dark Matter, Dark Energy & the Fate of the Universe Flashcards
Stars & ISM clouds are
visible matter
Existence of unseen matter
inferred from its gravity effects on visible matter. Orbital velocities of visible objects can be observed & measured
Kepler’s Law
Normally, the orbital speed drops as distance from a single central mass increases.
Same orbital speeds even for stars far away from galactic centre
Most of galaxy’s mass lies beyond our Sun
Same orbital speeds even for stars far away from galactic centre
Galactic mass NOT only at centre & most of it is located into halo and extends far out from it
Where is the dark matter in our galaxy?
This mass gives off very little light → dark matter
Total amount of dark matter could be 10× the total mass of all stars in the disk!
Visible matter in disk only a small fraction of total mass!
Radius of dark matter halo may be 10× as large as galaxy’s halo of stars
To determine the amount of dark matter in a galaxy
→ compare galaxy’s mass with its luminosity
Measuring luminosity → easy if its distance can be determined
Total mass of other spiral galaxies also determined
Measure orbital speeds as far from the galaxy’s centre as possible
Stars are rarely found at great distances from galactic centre
Doppler shift of the 21 cm radio emission line of H gas clouds in the receding & nearing arms of the galaxy tells us how fast the clouds are moving towards or away from us
Rotation curves of galaxies are flat at large distances from centres
Similar to our galaxy dark matter distributed far beyond disk & halo
Other spiral galaxies also have at least 10× as much mass in dark matter as they do in stars
In typical spiral galaxies, 90% of matter is dark matter
Different techniques must be used for elliptical galaxie
Very little H gas no detectable 21 cm emission line Must observe motions of stars
Mass-to-Light Ratio in dark matter in galaxy
Amount of dark matter in galaxy can also be quantified by its mass-to-light (M/L) ratio:
Mass: in [MSun] units
Visible luminosity (from apparent brightness): in [LSun] units
Milky Way: mass to light ratio
M/L = 6 if deduced from visible matter inside Sun’s orbit, but of about 50 if ALL matter of entire galaxy is considered
Other spiral galaxies have M/L ratios of ~50 or more
The large M/L ratios (≥50 MSun/LSun) obtained from measurements for elliptical galaxies also indicate that, just as spirals, they contain far more dark matter than visible one
and also predominantly located in the halo.
Dark matter in galaxy clusters discovered by Fritz Zwicky in 1930s.
Assumed galaxies orbit about cluster centre
Measured orbital speed of galaxies (redshifts) & their distance from centre
Calculated cluster mass with Kepler’s law Huge M/L ratios found (>100MSun/LSun) More sophisticated measurements today confirmed his finding
2 other independent ways to determine cluster mass:
Measure temperature & hot gas distribution between galaxies
Observe how clusters bend light (gravitational lenses)
Measure temperature of intracluster medium between galaxies
Gas heated to ~10…100 m K → temp. of intracluster gas depends on the mass of the clusters
Being so hot → emits X-rays & is nearly in gravitational equilibrium, i.e. outward pressure balances gravity’s inward pull → cluster mass can be estimated from temperature of hot gas
50× more dark matter than the combined mass of the stars in the cluster’s galaxies
Gravitational lensing
A massive cluster of galaxies bends light like a lens distant object behind cluster can be seen
Multiple distorted, magnified & brightened images of the background source can be generated
Gravitational lensing (continued)
Distortion strength reveals mass.
Lens bending angle depends on mass
A different theory of gravity is used: masses distort the space-time “fabric” of the Universe
All previous methods to find mass depended on Newton’s law of gravity
Cluster masses measured by 3 independent methods all agree
Conclusion: Clusters of galaxies hold huge amounts of dark matter
Most galaxy clusters have >100 MSun/Lsun → contain far more dark matter mass than stars
At least some of dark matter can be ordinary matter:
Protons, neutrons (baryons) & electrons Only thing unusual is that it is dim Called baryonic matter
The rest must be extraordinary matter Made of particles we have yet to discover Known as nonbaryonic matter
Our galactic halo has lots of dark baryonic matter:
Low-mass M dwarfs, brown dwarfs
Black holes & Jovian-sized planets
Too faint to be seen at large distances Also known as “MAssive Compact Halo Objects” MACHOs
Still, the number of MACHOs is not large enough to account for all Milky Way’s dark matter
Neutrinos from the Sun are nonbaryonic matter
Weakly interacting particles → interact with other particles through gravity & weak force.
Very low mass & high speed → easily escape galaxy’s gravity. Can account for only a very small % of dark matter observed.
Others are “Weakly Interacting Massive Particles” = WIMPs
WIMPs are still theoretical & have NOT yet been discovered
Massive enough and/or in large enough numbers to exert gravitational influence.
They do not emit light or are bound to any light-emitting charged matter.
They do/will not collapse into a galaxy’s disk/body.
Hence, they will remain gravitationally bound in a galaxy’s halo.
Gravitational attraction overcomes the expansion of the Universe at close range
Galaxy’s velocity deviates from Hubble’s law. Universe expands but individual galaxies attract one another
Structure probably began with slight enhancements in matter density during the early Universe.
Regions collapsed into protogalactic clouds forming galaxies.
Individual galaxies fell in towards one another to form clusters.
Individual clusters now congregating to form superclusters.
Collapses against expansion facilitated by dark matter
even today, dark matter’s gravitational pull must be the primary force holding the large-scale cosmic structures together.
Cosmic structures studied by galaxy surveys.
Once required years of effort just to map location of a few 100s galaxies (measure redshift to deduce distances) Recent technology measures 100s of galaxies in a single night of telescopic observation
Hubble’s law primarily used to measure galaxy distances
Hubble expansion dominates beyond 300 m l.y. from Earth
Galaxy distribution maps can be constructed
Galaxy distribution map reveals large scale structures much bigger even than clusters of galaxies! →
superclusters, and some are even LARGER !!!
Galaxies are not randomly scattered but arranged on a
scale of 100s m l.y. in gigantic chains, sheets & walls surrounded by empty regions called voids
Chains come from the initial regions
s of density enhancement
Voids come from the initial
regions of density depletion
Galaxies appear evenly distributed on a 1 b l.y. scale
On very large scales, the Universe looks much the same everywhere → in agreement with the Cosmological Principle
The structures we see today mirror the original distribution of dark matter in the early stage of the Universe
How will the Universe end ?
Gravity pull between galaxies slows down Hubble expansion.