What does Dark Matter have to do with the Big Bang Theory? Lunar Society What does Dark Matter have to do with the Big Bang Theory? Prof. David Toback Texas A&M University Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy May 2016

David Toback, Lunar Society Prologue We live in a time of remarkable scientific understanding Scientists are arrogant/crazy enough to think that it may be possible to solve major problems in Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics with a single discovery that ties all three together Idea: Dark Matter is a particle that was created right after the Big Bang and has had a major impact on the evolution of the Universe and the stuff in it Goal of this talk: To show you how all this might just tie together May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society Overview of the Talk Will talk about some of the most exciting questions in all of science one-by-one: What IS Dark matter and what is some of the evidence for it? What is the Big Bang Theory? What does Dark Matter have to do with the Big Bang and the evolution of the Universe? What are scientists doing today to discover Dark Matter? Final Thoughts May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society What is Dark Matter? May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

What is some of the evidence for Dark matter? May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

How Stars Move in Galaxies Start by considering the case that there IS no Dark Matter in galaxies Can use laws of gravity to predict two things: 1) The orbits of planets as they move around the solar system and 2) Stars as they move around a galaxy Prediction: both have very massive centers so we expect the data to look consistent with that Data: For the solar system, the data agree perfectly For the stars in the outer part of galaxies, the prediction doesn’t work at all May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/Talks/Video/Lab4_SS1_video.swf May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society As the Galaxy Turns http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/Talks/Video/Lab4_GX1_video_slow.swf May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society Data well explained by lots of “Dark Matter” we can’t see This is where it gets its name In some sense, the name is a statement of almost all we know about it (it doesn’t interact with light, and it has mass) Lots of other evidence for dark matter like gravitational lensing, but that’s for another day… May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Our Place in the Universe You are here The Dark Matter surrounds the galaxy like the water in a fishbowl surrounds a fish in the middle of the bowl Not exactly the same… denser in the middle because of the pull of gravity May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

What is the Big Bang Theory? David Toback, Lunar Society May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Not that Big Bang Theory May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

A Big Bang Occurred… Then What? The Story of the Universe since the Beginning May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Observe lots of galaxies with the world’s best telescope We notice that All the far away ones are moving away from us VERY quickly May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

So What? All the stuff in the galaxies appears to have come from a single point in space ~13.7 billion years ago Name this time The Big Bang  A moment of Creation What happened in the past? Run the clock backward in time May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Slightly more complicated than that… As best as we understand the Universe began with a Big Bang A REALLY Big Bang Then what? How did we get from the bang to the Universe we have today? May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, MSC Bethancourt Lecture A Brief History of Time Zero One millionth of one second after the Bang A few minutes A few hundred thousand years 100 million to 1 billion years 9 billion years ~13.7 billion years The Big Bang  produces lots of particles Quarks combine to form protons and neutrons Protons and Neutrons combine to form the nucleus of an atom Nuclei and electrons combine to form atoms Atoms combine to form Stars and Galaxies The Earth and our solar system forms You listen to me talk October 2014 David Toback, MSC Bethancourt Lecture

Artists Conception of the Big Bang It all started with a Big Bang Bang May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

The very early Universe Lots of free particles just hanging around… Universe is so hot that quarks can’t combine to make protons/neutrons May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Later, Quarks Combine to Form Nucleons qqq  Proton Quark Nuclear Reaction Proton Quark Quark May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

A Millionth of a Second after the Big Bang The quarks have combined to form Protons and Neutrons May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Creating Heavier Nuclei Proton Proton + Proton  Deuterium Nuclear Reaction Deuterium May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

A couple hundred thousand years later: Atoms Proton ElectroMagnetic Reaction Hydrogen Atom Electron May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Our galaxy, the Milky Way David Toback, Lunar Society Wait a Billion Years Our galaxy, the Milky Way After about half a billion years, because of gravity, atoms combine to form the first stars and galaxies May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

After about 9 billion years our solar system and the Earth form After about 9 billion years our solar system and the Earth form May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Recent History: Life on Earth Earth is about 4 or 5 billion years old Evidence that microbial tracings existed on Earth about 3.5 billion years ago Humanoids, like “Lucy” existed a mere 3 million years ago Homo-sapiens at around 100,000 years ago May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

What does Dark Matter have to do with the Big Bang Theory? May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society The Known Particles No known particles have the properties of Dark Matter Other reasons to believe there are new fundamental particles to be discovered For example, we just discovered the Higgs Boson Maybe Dark Matter is a New Particle! May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

What IS the Dark Matter? We don’t know… Hypothesis: The Dark Matter in the Universe is made up of LOTS of particles that we haven’t discovered yet! Best Guess: Huge numbers got created in the Early Universe like everything else and are still here today! Then Universe gets bigger Big Bang! Today: Observe 5 times more Dark Matter than Atoms (by mass) in the Universe October 2014 David Toback, MSC Bethancourt Lecture

What are scientists doing today to discover Dark Matter? Just mention two of the fun experiments being done here at Texas A&M! May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Some Sources of Dark Matter are Cheap You are here Our Sun is Moving through our Galaxy… Lots of Dark Matter is hitting the Earth every second May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society Experiment Dark Matter Particle I saw it! Eureka! Ping Atom in Detector Low Temperature Detector May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Can we Make and Discover Dark Matter? High energy collisions between particles in the Early Universe Recreate the conditions like they were RIGHT AFTER the Big Bang If we can produce Dark Matter in a collision then we can STUDY it October 2014 David Toback, MSC Bethancourt Lecture

Detector Dark Matter Particle Proton Proton Dark Matter Particle More Expensive Dark Matter? High Energy Collisions  Dark Matter Particles LHC  ≈1 ps after the Big Bang Detector Dark Matter Particle Proton Proton Ok… Its more complicated than this since Dark Matter Particles don’t easily interact with detectors… Nor do we usually produce them directly Dark Matter Particle October 2014 David Toback, MSC Bethancourt Lecture

Aerial View of the LHC Lake Leman Geneva Airport p p 27 km in Circumference! One of the largest and the most complex scientific instrument ever conceived & built by humankind Lake Leman Geneva Airport Collides high energy protons Two huge detectors CMS p p ATLAS October 2014 David Toback, MSC Bethancourt Lecture

David Toback, MSC Bethancourt Lecture How does it do it? Accelerates protons to REALLY high energies, then bashes them together http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/Talks/Video/particle_event_full_ns.avi October 2014 David Toback, MSC Bethancourt Lecture

David Toback, Lunar Society Final Thoughts May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

Interested in learning more? Physics & Astronomy department now offers a course entitled “Big Bang & Black Holes” (ASTR/PHYS 109) Covers Stephen Hawking’s “Brief History of Time” Origin and Evolution of the Universe How do stars form? What is Dark Matter? Dark Energy? What are Black Holes? More on General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics and Particle Physics Has a lab (if you want) and can be used as a Science Distribution credit There is an option to take is an Honors class http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/ May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society Conclusions It’s an incredibly exciting time to be a scientist! Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics are all coming together Perhaps we understand the role of Dark Matter in the Universe since the Big Bang! If our understanding is correct, a major discovery may be just around the corner! May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society End of Lecture May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society Abstract Scientists have entered a golden age of discovery. We are starting to be able to answer some of the most exciting questions ever asked, including questions that touch on the Big Bang, the fundamental building blocks of nature, and the Dark Matter that fills the Universe. In this talk I will talk about Astronomy, Cosmology, Particle Physics and The Universe and the reasons to think that the biggest things in the Universe (like the Universe itself) and the smallest things (like quarks and electrons) are inextricably linked. Indeed, many of us believe there is a new, fundamental particle just around the corner waiting to be discovered that could all these things together May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society

David Toback, Lunar Society Prologue (Apologies for the simplistic definitions) Astronomy is the study of things we can see through telescopes… Stuff in Universe (space) Cosmology is about trying to understand the origin and evolution of the Universe Particle Physics is about trying to understand the smallest things that make up the stuff in the Universe May 2016 David Toback, Lunar Society