Newly published research signifies the reinterpretation of cold dark matter, opening up the possibility that it could be regarded as a very cold quantum fluid governing the formation of the structure of the Universe.

Tom Broadhurst, an Ikerbasque researcher at the UPV/EHU’s Department of Theoretical Physics, has participated alongside scientists of the National Taiwan University in a piece of research that explores cold dark matter in depth and proposes new answers about the formation of galaxies and the structure of the Universe. These predictions, published in the prestigious journal Nature Physics, are being contrasted with fresh data provided by the Hubble space telescope.

In cosmology, cold dark matter is a form of matter the particles of which move slowly in comparison with light, and interact weakly with electromagnetic radiation. It is estimated that only a minute fraction of the matter in the Universe is baryonic matter, which forms stars, planets and living organisms. The rest, comprising over 80%, is dark matter and energy.

The theory of cold dark matter helps to explain how the universe evolved from its initial state to the current distribution of galaxies and clusters, the structure of the Universe on a large scale. In any case, the theory was unable to satisfactorily explain certain observations, but the new research by Broadhurst and his colleagues sheds new light in this respect.

As the Ikerbasque researcher explained, “guided by the initial simulations of the formation of galaxies in this context, we have reinterpreted cold dark matter as a Bose-Einstein condensate”. So, “the ultra-light bosons forming the condensate share the same quantum wave function, so disturbance patterns are formed on astronomic scales in the form of large-scale waves”.

This theory can be used to suggest that all the galaxies in this context should have at their center large stationary waves of dark matter called solitons, which would explain the puzzling cores observed in common dwarf galaxies.

The research also makes it possible to predict that galaxies are formed relatively late in this context in comparison with the interpretation of standard particles of cold dark matter. The team is comparing these new predictions with observations by the Hubble space telescope.

The results are very promising as they open up the possibility that dark matter could be regarded as a very cold quantum fluid that governs the formation of the structure across the whole Universe. This research opened up fresh possibilities to conduct research into the first galaxies to emerge after the Big Bang.

Tom Broadhurst has a PhD in Physics from the University of Durham (United Kingdom); until joining Ikerbasque he did his research at top research centers in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Israel, Japan and Taiwan. He has had 184 papers published in leading scientific journals, and so far has received 11,800 citations. In 2010, he was recruited by Ikerbasque and carries out his work in the UPV/EHU’s department of Theoretical Physics. His line of research focuses on observational cosmology, dark matter and the formation of galaxies.

Publication: Hsi-Yu Schive, et al., “Cosmic structure as the quantum interference of a coherent dark wave,” Nature Physics 10, 496–499, 2014; doi:10.1038/nphys2996

PDF Copy of the Study: Cosmic Structure as the Quantum Interference of a Coherent Dark Wave

Images: University of the Basque Country