According to scientists, there might have been another significant cosmic event called the “Second Big Bang.” Instead of just one enormous explosion that created the universe, researchers believe there could have been a second event that explains the existence of dark matter, an invisible substance that makes up a large part of the universe.
Dark matter is a mysterious kind of matter that doesn’t interact with light or other known forces, yet it appears to make up about 27 percent of the universe. Astronomers have been puzzled by the movements of galaxies, which don’t fit with our current understanding of physics. To make sense of these movements, scientists think there must be unseen matter affecting them.
Despite numerous efforts, we haven’t directly observed dark matter. Some scientists now suggest that a second significant explosion, or a “Dark Big Bang,” might have created dark matter after the initial creation of regular matter.
Researchers propose that this Dark Big Bang might have happened very early in the universe’s history, possibly when it was less than a month old. They theorize that this event could have produced various types of dark matter, including enormous particles called “darkzillas” and lighter particles known as “dark cannibals.” These particles are similar to one of the leading candidates for dark matter that scientists have considered for a long time, called “weakly interacting massive particles” (WIMPs).
One physics professor, Katherine Freese from the University of Texas at Austin, suggests that studying gravitational waves could provide more insights into her Dark Big Bang theory. Scientists are trying to detect signals from highly magnetized neutron stars called pulsars to understand the origin of these gravitational waves, hoping to learn more about the universe’s early days.
This idea of a Second Big Bang represents a shift in the way astronomers think about the universe’s beginnings. Instead of a single event, they are considering the possibility of several significant transitions that brought both regular matter and dark matter into existence.
Understanding these gravitational waves might bring us closer to unraveling the mystery of dark matter, helping us comprehend whether “darkzillas” or “dark cannibals” might account for a significant portion of the unseen matter that surrounds us.