An impression of gravitational waves (red and blue) emitted by a merging pair of black holes, inside a cloud of dark matter. © MIT
Scientists think dark matter makes up most of the universe’s matter, but it cannot be seen directly because it only interacts through gravity.
Now, researchers believe gravitational waves created by colliding black holes could contain tiny clues left behind by dark matter.
A team from MIT and Europe developed a new model to predict how gravitational waves would look if black holes merged while moving through dense clouds of dark matter instead of space.
They tested the method using data from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observatories, which detect gravitational waves from distant cosmic events. Out of 28 strong signals they studied, 27 matched normal black hole mergers in space. But one signal, called GW190728, showed possible signs of a dark matter effect.
The researchers stress that this is not a direct discovery of dark matter. Instead, the method could become a powerful new way to search for hidden signs of it in gravitational-wave data.
To build the model, the scientists ran detailed simulations of black hole pairs with different masses, sizes, and dark matter environments. They also calculated how the gravitational waves would change as they traveled across space before reaching detectors on Earth.
Why it matters:
If confirmed, this could open a completely new way to study dark matter, one of the biggest mysteries in modern physics, using gravitational waves from black hole mergers instead of traditional telescopes.
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