Dark Matter is in dimension X?

(lmao Is "Dark Matter" a code word for "missing black socks"?)

It will be interesting to see how they devise a test to look for this stuff..

dark matter is the weightiest bit of the universe that scientists know is out there, but haven't found. If it is composed of lost laubdry sox, will be then have a chance to pick through the pile and retrieve our own?

The idea is that those clumps in dimensionX are packed with heavy particles that would randomly crash into each other letting loose bursts of "unusually energetic neutrinos." There are existing machines that record neutrinos (one of the field where physics has advanced in the last few years).

Picking through decades of kidnapped socks could be a daunting task there lil k. Finding them would be the 1st step. Sorting them all out may take a bit longer.

Mmmm.. Searching the cosmos for co-annihilation of KK particles. Muons... All that good stuff that makes my head hurt. lol

signs of annihilation.

http://www.physics.ucla.edu/hep/DarkMatter/dmtalks.htm

Wow BillW, there's a lot to get through at that link. From last February? Or for this February?

It looked like last February!

My mine goes bonkers when it gets cosmic overload attached!

This is my hubby's specialty -- neutrinos. If you have specific questions, I'll run them by him. He's currently preparing a talk for lay people (non-scientists) and so would probably appreciate some info on what people are interested in.

Sozobe - sign him up! I'd love to talk to a trained physicist in lay-terms. Although, I'm not sure I have specific Qs for him right off the bat.

I would like to know why they've been stealing our socks! :p

I would love to have the short version....lay person version would work as although it interests me to a great degree...it stirs the gray matter to gravy of an unintelligble origin most days

And our underwires!

"The short version", eh? Basically -- neutrinos are teeny tiny little particles that may or may not have mass. They are emitted by the sun and supernovas (stars that explode) and exist in vast quantities. This is why the question of their mass, however infinitismal, is important, because en masse their mass could be massive. If ya follow.

It's looking more and more like they do have mass, and could account for the "missing mass" (or dark matter) that makes the standard model work. Basically, some experiments have shown they do have mass, and they're trying to replicate the experiments, do variations, and generally get more data on whether they have mass and if so, how much.

I doubt E.G. will "sign up", but if you think of questions, let me know, and I'll run them past him at the dinner table and report back.

WEll..that was pretty simple...for a monday, it helped


the underwires...ummmm
yep...you think they're hanging out with the socks?

Ok! I have a Q. The neutrinos have mass - that's known because they exhibit change, I think I heard on the radio....? How does the discovery of the variations of the neutrino show that they have mass?

And what does he think of the theory that some dark matter is composed of particles in the X-dimension bundles?

And, can he take a stab at bibliophile's Q about the outer edge of the universe?

I showed it to him -- don't tell bib, but he did an eye-roll. I can see if he wants to go into it further. One thing I've gleaned from conversations with him and other physicists is that there are many many terms that have logical non-physics meaning but mean something else entirely to physicists. English is really inadequate when it comes to so many physics concepts -- it can only be conveyed with the actual equations, the chalkboard full of x's and taus. So "edge" is one of those "yes but" things -- just because they are bound by English to say "edge" doesn't mean they think there's an actual EDGE. If that makes any sense.

Good questions, I'll ask and let you know.

Good point Soz, about 'edge'.

oh yes..good point about edge..simplistic as well...I like that, makes more sence even...whew