Hints of non-gravitational interactions between dark matter and relic #neutrinos in the early #universe have emerged in a study of astronomical data from different periods of cosmic history.
Dark matter and neutrinos play major roles in the evolution of cosmic structures, but they are among the universe’s least-understood components.
Dark matter is thought to make up over 25% of the universe’s mass, but it has never been detected directly; instead, its existence is inferred from its gravitational interactions.
Neutrinos, for their part, are fundamental subatomic particles that have a very low mass and interact only rarely with normal matter.
According to the standard ΛCDM #model of cosmology, dark matter and neutrinos do not interact with each other.
The new results challenge this model by proposing that dark matter and neutrinos may have interacted in the past, when the universe was younger and contained many more neutrinos than it does today.
#physics #cosmology
https://physicsworld.com/a/interactions-between-dark-matter-and-neutrinos-could-resolve-a-cosmic-discrepancy/
