Scientists have proposed a new theory that dark matter may originate from a “deformed mirror universe” inside our own.
This “mirror universe” would be similar to ours but with neutrons and protons that don’t have the convenient mass symmetry that allows stable atom formation in our universe.
Without this symmetry, the mirror universe would be a “sad soup of subatomic particles” that don’t interact much, explaining dark matter’s diffuse nature.
The theory is prompted by two coincidences – the comparable amounts of dark and regular matter, and neutron/proton masses enabling atomic structure.
It suggests dark matter could be remnants of a shadow universe where atoms failed to form due to non-symmetrical subatomic particle masses.
The paper has not been peer-reviewed yet but comes from researchers at institutions like Fermilab and University of Chicago.
It adds to the many exotic proposals for dark matter’s identity, which remains one of physics’ biggest unsolved mysteries.
Source: futurism
