From: rhinoceros (rhinoceros@freemail.gr)
Date: Mon Oct 20 2003 - 06:33:16 MDT
[LhyR of Chaos]
... that his theory (while a pretty good one) was wrong: the big bang was not the source of all things in reality, just the source for a lot of it. it does not explain the presence of dark matter, as just one example.
[aperick]
wow, I thought that the whole "dark matter" business was now pretty universally considered a mistake. I don't have access to my old Scientific American Mags at the moment but I seem to recall reading in this past year of other possible explanations for the observed behavior of 'universal' expansion. I've not always been too impressed with Hawking.
[rhinoceros]
The big bang theory and the framework around it is still the one with which practically all astronomers and astrophysicists feel comfortable to work with.
Does it explain dark matter? No, in fact it is the other way around. Dark matter was not actually observed, so it is not something to be explained. The existence of dark matter was speculated, in order to explain how the observations fit in the current theory.
Some Theories Win, Some Lose
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/mr_limits.html
<snip>
Content of the Universe:
* 4% Atoms, 23% Cold Dark Matter, 73% Dark energy.
* The data places new constraints on the dark energy. It seems more like a "cosmological constant" than a negative-pressure energy field called "quintessence". But quintessence is not ruled out.
* Fast moving neutrinos do not play any major role in the evolution of structure in the universe. They would have prevented the early clumping of gas in the universe, delaying the emergence of the first stars, in conflict with the new WMAP data.
<end snip>
[rhinoceros]
The 23% of dark matter that the Universe is made of has yet to be found. The following was just reported by the New Scientist:
Astronomers find first 'dark galaxy'
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994272
It is about this paper:
Astrophysics, abstract astro-ph/0310192
Dark Matter in Dwarf Galaxies: The First Dark Galaxy?
http://www.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0310192
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