Observations have shown that the actual temperature of the interstellar gas cloud is higher than predicted. Scientists’ recent new research suggests that one possible explanation is that dark matter heats these cosmic gases invisibly.
We know that interstellar gas clouds in the universe will absorb special types of light (such as different photon energies) produced by distant galaxies and quasars. When distant starlight passes through relatively dense neutral hydrogen clusters, light of very specific wavelengths will be absorbed by neutral hydrogen. Lyman α line (Ly-α) absorption lines are generated in spectral observations, and as the universe expands, the light redshifts to different wavelengths, and finally forms the sum of the absorption lines of the “Lyman-alpha forest (Lyman-alpha forest)”.
Now, scientists say we can look at interstellar gas through Lyman alpha forests to find exotic matter called “dark photons.”
If the neutral hydrogen molecules are perfectly still, the Lyman alpha forest will look like an incredibly thin line; if the hydrogen molecules are moving, then the hotter the gas, the greater the kinetic energy of the molecules, and the greater the gap between the absorption lines of the Lyman alpha forest , which scientists can use to measure the temperature of interstellar gas clouds.
But according to a new study, scientists have found that the clouds of gas scattered between galaxies appear to be overheated. Computer simulations predict that they should be cooler than observations, perhaps indicating that something is heating these clouds.
A possible explanation for the temperature difference is the presence of dark photons, the researchers said. Dark photons are also carriers of another new force of nature that could interact with other potential dark matter particles, and models also suggest that dark photons have a trick: occasionally turning into ordinary photons, doing what ordinary photons always do: heating.
Of course, the team did not rule out other possible explanations, and they hope to inspire more research on the properties of the interstellar medium in the early universe. The paper was published in Physical Review Letters.
(Source of the first image: pixabay)
