Can dark matter clump together?

A surprising number of dark matter clumps in distant clusters of galaxies severely warp background light from other objects, researchers report in the Sept. 11 Science. This finding suggests that these clumps of dark matter, in which individual galaxies are embedded, are denser than expected.

Why doesn’t all matter clump together?

Essentially, particles don’t clump together as you imagine because they are, on the smallest scales, not particles at all. They are quantum states that are smeared out over an area like an electron orbital in an atom, and they do not behave as our classical intuition leads us to believe.

What causes matter to clump together?

Gravity is the force that all objects with mass exert upon one another, pulling the objects closer together. It causes a ball thrown into the air to fall to the earth, and the planets to orbit the sun. The tiny particles that make up matter, such as atoms and subatomic particles, also exert forces on one another.

Is there evidence for dark matter?

There is no evidence that dark matter is capable of such a wide variety of interactions, since it seems to only interact through gravity (and possibly through some means no stronger than the weak interaction, although until dark matter is better understood, this is only speculation).

Why doesn’t gravity make things clump together?

Since it is so hard for them to get rid of their kinetic energy, they tend to not get bound up into clumps. If you consider dark matter to be in the form of massive particles that have kinetic energy but only interact gravitationally, then there is a simple way to look at this.

Which two ever present forces affect all motion on the earth?

Which two ever present forces affect all motion on earth? 1) The electromagnetic force is both an attractive and a repulsive force between electric charges. 2) Balanced forces cause an object, if it is in motion, to maintain its motion.

Does dark matter interact with strong force?

It does not interact via the strong force, as we see no evidence of cosmic rays (made of protons) interacting with it. We know that dark matter does not experience the strong or electromagnetic forces.

Why does dark matter clump together into planets?

Normal matter clumps into planets, because it is slowed down by interactions / collisions. Dark matter does not collide and cannot deposit energy. It stays on elliptical orbits with very large axes and there is no way how to shrink the ellipse.

Why can’t dark matter be slowed down?

Because the dark matter does not interact a lot, there is no mechanism that would slow it down quickly. When a dark matter particle is falling towards some gravitational center, it is speeding up, then it flies through the periapsis and continues away into the distance.

Are black holes the only form of dark matter?

Black holes aren’t the only thing dark matter can’t form; it also can’t create dark matter stars, planets or dark atoms. Imagine the Universe as it might have been back in the very, very early stages, before there were any black holes, stars, planets or atoms.

How does dark matter interact with the other 3 fundamental forces?

As I understand, dark matter theoretically only interacts with the gravitational force, and doesn’t interact with the other three fundamental forces: weak nuclear force, strong nuclear force, and electromagnetism. Those are my understandings going in. If I’m wrong, please correct me.