dark matter
Let an agent describe dark matter with the evidence for it, the candidate explanations and what remains unknown, without overstating certainty.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent describe dark matter with the evidence for it, the candidate explanations and what remains unknown, without overstating certainty.
A hypothesised form of matter that does not emit, absorb or reflect light, inferred from its gravitational effects on galaxies, clusters and the cosmic microwave background, and making up most of the matter in the universe.
What it is for: Explaining galaxy rotation, gravitational lensing and cosmic structure.
It can be infer it, from gravitational effects; search for it, in direct detection and collider experiments; model it, in cosmological simulations; test alternatives, such as modified gravity.
Distinguishing features
Inferred from gravity, not seen
Not yet directly detected
Cold, warm and hot models differ
Modified gravity is an alternative explanation
What it looks like
Invisible; mapped indirectly through lensing and galaxy motions.
Physical character
share of matter: about 85 percent - of all matter, per standard cosmology
share of total energy density: about 27 percent
How it is recognised
Galaxy rotation curves flatter than visible matter predicts
Gravitational lensing maps
No direct detection so far
Related models
affects - structure
is inferred from - evidence
is studied by - fields
is confused with - a different concept
In practice
Families and kinds
cold dark matter
warm and hot dark matter
candidates: WIMPs, axions, primordial black holes
baryonic dark matter (largely excluded as main component)
Failure modes and hazards
Presenting dark matter as directly observed
Presenting speculative candidates as established
Confusing dark matter and dark energy
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Also registered as vr.tr.dark-matter
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Evidence Why it is inferred.
The evidence is indirect but strong.
Observations
Rotation, lensing, CMB.
Evidence
Lines of evidence.
- Which observations point to dark matter? provenance
- How strong is each line of evidence? measurement
Amount
How much.
Amount
Estimated amount.
- How much dark matter is inferred, from which data? measurement
- How uncertain is the figure? measurement
Nature What it might be.
Its nature is unknown.
Candidates
Particles and objects.
Candidates
Candidate explanations.
- Which candidates are considered, and what rules them in or out? definition
- Which are favoured, by whom? provenance
Alternatives
Modified gravity.
Alternatives
Alternative theories.
- How do modified gravity theories explain the evidence? definition
- Where do they fail? boundary
Searches Experiments.
Experiments test hypotheses.
Direct detection
Underground detectors.
Direct searches
Direct detection results.
- What have direct detection experiments found? provenance
- Which limits have they set? measurement
Indirect and collider
Other searches.
Other searches
Other search results.
- What do indirect and collider searches show? provenance
- Are there unconfirmed signals? boundary
Communication Explaining honestly.
Uncertainty must be stated.
Status
Known vs unknown.
Status
What is known.
- What is established and what is unknown? boundary
- How should that be worded? action
Confusion
Dark energy.
Clarification
Common confusions.
- Is dark matter being confused with dark energy? boundary
- How should the difference be explained? action
What the second pass must settle
- How should the registry mark hypothesised entities?
- Should candidates be separate entries?
- How should alternative theories be represented fairly?