2023-09-03 04:00:10
Dark matter, that elusive substance that makes up much of the Universe, is a mystery to scientists. New research suggests that the cores of dead stars, especially neutron stars, could serve as cosmic laboratories for his study. By slipping into these stars, dark matter (In astrophysics, dark matter (or dark matter), translation from English…) could indeed trigger phenomena ranging from a change in temperature (Temperature is a physical quantity measured using a thermometer and…) the explosion (An explosion is the rapid transformation of a material into another material having a…) total of the star (A star is an autonomously light-emitting celestial object, similar to a…).
An illustration of a neutron star, crackling strong magnetic fields.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Dark matter is a concept supported by many indirect observations. It is detected by studying its influence on visible objects. Whole galaxies (Galaxies is a quarterly French magazine devoted to science fiction. With…) are moving faster than visible matter alone would warrant. Stars inside galaxies also orbit at higher speeds than expected.
But what exactly is dark matter? The theories are numerous. It could be an ethereal particle, a cosmic wave, or even countless small black holes created during the Big Bang .
What is certain is that dark matter has gravity and therefore concentrates in regions where gravity is strong. Black holes are the champions in this field, but studying dark matter near them is nearly impossible. Neutron stars, on the other hand, offer an interesting alternative. Denser than a hundred billion times the Earth, they would have the highest concentrations of dark matter in the Universe (The Universe is all that exists and the laws that govern it.), according to a study to appear in the journal Physics Reports.
The researchers established that dark matter could cause a whole series of events inside neutron stars. For example, by colliding with particles of ordinary matter, it could increase the temperature of the star. In more extreme cases, it could even set off a chain reaction, completely destroying (Completion or completely automatic, or by Anglicism completion or…) the star.
To detect these influences, several methods are considered. One of them is the study of the temperature of these dying stars. Another would be to observe the sudden variations in their speed of rotation. Dark matter, by altering internal mass (The term mass is used to designate two quantities attached to a…) (In France, this name designates a doctor, pharmacist or dental surgeon, at the…) of the star, could be at the origin of these phenomena. Also, the possibility of discovering a total explosion of a neutron star.
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