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I’ve always felt like (as neither a mathematician nor a physicist) that “dark matter” is simply just something that suddenly makes a math problem work to model

by rzz3 1y ago

I’ve always felt like (as neither a mathematician nor a physicist) that “dark matter” is simply just something that suddenly makes a math problem work to model the universe-—and that in reality, that math problem just doesn’t work. Is my theory even _possible_ here, or am I missing something. Really fundamental?

Hikikomori 1y ago
Well you have things like the bullet cluster that can't be explained by math being wrong.
- naasking 1y ago
  Of course they can. The whole reason you think they can't is just more math.
luma 1y ago
Dark matter is a proposition put forward to explain observations. It’s not a result of pretty math, it’s the result of a lot of different observations which don’t align with the current math unless you stick something like dark matter into it.
- slowmovintarget 1y ago
  There are pretty math pathways to dark matter, though, and they tend to be more compelling reasons to believe there is something that fits the notion of a particle that we can't detect (or is very difficult to detect). Specifically, bariogenesis calculations, given the current standard model, actually require dark matter--it's the label we've arrived at--as a result. Observations led to the hypothesis, calculations led to more evidence.
- jvanderbot 1y ago
  So yes. It is a missing term that balances our models of physics against observations. The implications of that term and hypothesis as to its physical reality are what we are trying to figure out right?
tekla 1y ago
99% of the evidence points to dark matter being a real thing. And yes, many many phds have thought of the "what if we're just completely wrong" aspect. It's not interesting
- naasking 1y ago
  > 99% of the evidence points to dark matter being a real thing If you mean particle dark matter, that's an exaggeration: From Galactic Bars to the Hubble Tension: Weighing Up the Astrophysical Evidence for Milgromian Gravity, https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/14/7/1331 https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/14/7/1331
mr_mitm 1y ago
I posted this literally yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43726217 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43726217

by rzz3 1y ago

Hikikomori 1y ago

Well you have things like the bullet cluster that can't be explained by math being wrong.

naasking 1y ago
Of course they can. The whole reason you think they can't is just more math.

luma 1y ago

Dark matter is a proposition put forward to explain observations. It’s not a result of pretty math, it’s the result of a lot of different observations which don’t align with the current math unless you stick something like dark matter into it.

slowmovintarget 1y ago
There are pretty math pathways to dark matter, though, and they tend to be more compelling reasons to believe there is something that fits the notion of a particle that we can't detect (or is very difficult to detect). Specifically, bariogenesis calculations, given the current standard model, actually require dark matter--it's the label we've arrived at--as a result. Observations led to the hypothesis, calculations led to more evidence.
jvanderbot 1y ago
So yes. It is a missing term that balances our models of physics against observations. The implications of that term and hypothesis as to its physical reality are what we are trying to figure out right?

tekla 1y ago

99% of the evidence points to dark matter being a real thing. And yes, many many phds have thought of the "what if we're just completely wrong" aspect. It's not interesting

naasking 1y ago
> 99% of the evidence points to dark matter being a real thing If you mean particle dark matter, that's an exaggeration: From Galactic Bars to the Hubble Tension: Weighing Up the Astrophysical Evidence for Milgromian Gravity, https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/14/7/1331 https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/14/7/1331

mr_mitm 1y ago

I posted this literally yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43726217 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43726217