Moontanman Posted October 16, 2008 Posted October 16, 2008 Could mirror matter comprise a significant quantity of the missing mass in the universe and how would we go about detecting it?
insane_alien Posted October 16, 2008 Posted October 16, 2008 mirror matter? never heard of it. what is it supposed to do?
Moontanman Posted October 16, 2008 Author Posted October 16, 2008 Mirror matter is matter that would be needed to restore parity symmetry as a fundamental symmetry of nature.
swansont Posted October 16, 2008 Posted October 16, 2008 How would it do that, exactly? Parity is violated in weak interactions. How would some other matter make this not so?
Moontanman Posted October 16, 2008 Author Posted October 16, 2008 How would it do that, exactly? Parity is violated in weak interactions. How would some other matter make this not so? I found this link it should explain mirror matter better then I can but it's mirror reflection symmetry that is violated with out mirror matter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_matter
swansont Posted October 16, 2008 Posted October 16, 2008 Ah, OK. Mirror matter would only interact with normal matter via the weak force and gravity.
Moontanman Posted October 17, 2008 Author Posted October 17, 2008 One of the more interesting things about Mirror matter (if it's real) is there would be not only mirror matter but also mirror anti-matter. Depending on how strong the interaction between matter and mirror matter is, a container of mirror matter could contain antimatter or conversely a container of matter could contain mirror matter and another could contain mirror anti-matter. These two matter containers full of mirror matter and mirror anti-matter could be used to power a space craft, depending of course on how strong the interaction between matter and mirror matter proves to be. More than likely any interaction between the two will be too weak to use in this manner but interaction between the two types of matter could be used in various ways depending of course on how strong this interaction really is. If mirror matter exists it would at least be as abundant as matter in the universe. Which could mean mirror matter planets, stars and even galaxies.
Severian Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 If mirror matter exists it would at least be as abundant as matter in the universe. Which could mean mirror matter planets, stars and even galaxies. If that were the case, then it would be ruled out, since we would 'see' them via gravity.
Moontanman Posted October 18, 2008 Author Posted October 18, 2008 If that were the case, then it would be ruled out, since we would 'see' them via gravity. Exactly! That is where we get the idea of Dark Matter, there is plenty of evidence of mass we cannot see, hence the question could at least some of it be Mirror Matter?
Severian Posted October 18, 2008 Posted October 18, 2008 Exactly! That is where we get the idea of Dark Matter, there is plenty of evidence of mass we cannot see, hence the question could at least some of it be Mirror Matter? No - because the evidence indicates that dark matter doesn't clump in small distance scales.
Moontanman Posted October 19, 2008 Author Posted October 19, 2008 No - because the evidence indicates that dark matter doesn't clump in small distance scales. True, dark matter doesn't clump but if there is Mirror matter in the universe it should be an amount equal to the amount of matter. this would mean that most of the matter in the Universe would still be something we still do not know. I can't remember off hand what the actual percentage is but if matter comprises 5% of the universe then mirror matter should also make up 5% of the universe. Which would of course be 10% leaving the rest to dark matter and dark energy.
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