Dark matter may be made of black holes from another universe

The last cosmic This model combines two of the most unusual ideas in contemporary physics to explain nature dark matter, The invisible matter that makes up about 85 percent of all matter in the universe. To understand this, it is necessary to look beyond that Big bang We all know and think about two concepts that rarely intersect: rotating universes and primordial black holes.

A different kind of multiverse

There are different versions of the “multiverse”. The most popular model – that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – suggests that there are as many universes as there are possibilities and that these versions of reality are parallel. Physics suggests something more realistic and mathematically stable: cosmic bounce.

In this model, the universe is not born from a singularity, but rather expands, contracts, and expands again in an endless cycle. Each “universe” is not parallel, but sequential, meaning one arises from the ashes of the universe that preceded it.

Is it possible for something to survive the end of its universe and continue beyond? According to a paper published in Physical review dYes. Any structure larger than about 90 meters could pass through the final collapse of the universe and survive the rebound, explains author Enrique Gaztanaga, a research professor at the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona. Not only will these “traces” persist, but they could also be the seeds for the formation of unexplained giant structures observed in the early stages of the present universe. Moreover, it could be the key to understanding dark matter.

For decades, the prevailing explanation for dark matter was that it was an unknown particle or particles. But after years of experiments without direct discoveries, physicists began to explore alternatives. One suggests that dark matter is not a strange particle, but a large collection of small black holes that we ignore.

The idea is attractive, but it has a serious problem. For these black holes to explain dark matter, they must have been around since the universe’s earliest moments, long before the first stars collapsed. There are indications that these things may exist, but there is no convincing physical mechanism to explain their origin.

The universe was born with black holes

This is where Gaztanaga’s newly proposed model shines. If cosmic rebound allows compact structures to survive the collapse of the previous universe, then the current universe would have already been born with pre-existing black holes. These crises did not have to arise from extreme fluctuations or carefully controlled inflationary processes, but rather were simply present from the first moment.

This assumption has the potential to solve two mysteries at once: the origin of black holes and the nature of dark matter. If this model is correct, dark matter would not be a mystery of the early universe, but rather a legacy of a universe that predates our own.

“There is still a lot of work to be done,” Gaztanaga, who is also a researcher at the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, said in an article for the magazine. Conversation. “These ideas need to be tested against data – from gravitational wave backgrounds to galaxy surveys and precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background.”

“But the possibility is profound,” he added. “The universe may not have started all at once, but it may have bounced back. The dark structures that make up galaxies today could be remnants from a time before the Big Bang.”

This story originally appeared on WIRED in Spanish It was translated from Spanish.