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Articles: Devotion | Quest for Infinity - 08
- Prof. venkata ramanamurty mallajosyula
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The Discovery of Dark Matter
From the exciting studies on the fingerprints left by the early Universe via the CMB, I now turn to physics at small distances. There has been hectic activity in this area, and many amazing discoveries have been made, with a bearing on Cosmology. In fact, one can see the manner in which Cosmology and particle physics are influencing each other. Here is an example. Some years ago, astrophysicist Vera Rubin began carefully studying various galaxies in the Universe. Her studies lead her to conclude, that many galaxies actually had much more mass than the light emitted by them would allow us to conclude. You see, when we look up in the sky and see something, we say, “Ah ha! There is something up there. If we see nothing, we say, nothing is over there.” Vera Rubin found out that we cannot always assert in this manner. Visually, the galaxies seemed to suggest that there was only so much matter in them. A careful analysis of the physical parameters suggested something very different, viz., there was much more to the galaxies than evident to the eye; in other words, there was Dark Matter, not visible to the eye, or in the ultraviolet, infrared, etc.
Since then, the idea of dark or missing matter has taken firm root and this immediately has deep implications for cosmology. How? Via the parameter Ω! I hope you recall the role this parameter plays in deciding the ultimate fate of the Universe; and the value of Ω depends on the amount of matter in the Universe. Earlier, estimates of this mass was made on the basis of stars and galaxies visible to man. But Vera Rubin’s studies now showed that we have to be careful; there could be dark matter! This dark matter might not be visible, but it sure could determine the fate of the Universe.
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