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We haven't directly detected dark matter because we don't really know what we are looking for, and there are only a few things we can search for. Dark matter might not be structured in a way we can investigate with current technology.
Also, dark matter doesn't interact much with regular matter, which makes the search even harder.
Because it doesn’t exist. Dark matter is a fudge factor to prop-up a theory that astrophysics is too afraid to put to rest.
I think the problem here is that maybe there is something else we don't understand. We also did not understand the propagation of light in a vacuum in the 19th century, and invented a hidden medium called the "aether" to explain it. I think there is some fundamental thing we are missing, and we're inventing dark matter to explain it.
Because it doesn’t exist. Dark matter is a fudge factor to prop-up a theory that astrophysics is too afraid to put to rest.
Indeed. Physics is wrong on many fundamental levels, but everytime physicists find fundamental errors, they propose another entirely theoretical layer of complexity, with the "benfit" that no one is able to practically refute it.
What's your alternative to the scientific method exactly?
Because it doesn’t exist. Dark matter is a fudge factor to prop-up a theory that astrophysics is too afraid to put to rest.
My attempt to summarize the reasons would be: We haven't directly detected dark matter because we don't really know what we are looking for, and there are only a few things we can search for. Dark matter might not be structured in a way we can investigate with current technology. Also, dark matter doesn't interact much with regular matter, which makes the search even harder.
This is (one of the many places) where I get lost. It has mass, so it by definition interacts with anything with mass?
Are these particles supposed to be so small and so rare that they can't be measured even at the scale of solar system? (How much dark matter would be in the solar system? What would be the average density of the dark matter? what would be the mass of single dark matter particle?) Or what do I miss here?
Because it doesn’t exist. Dark matter is a fudge factor to prop-up a theory that astrophysics is too afraid to put to rest.
We know how stars work, and we know how gravity works...These two numbers don’t match, and they don’t match spectacularly. There had to be something more than just stars responsible for the vast majority of mass in the Universe. I think the problem here is that maybe there is something else we don't understand. We also did not understand the propagation of light in a vacuum in the 19th century, and invented a hidden…
In seriousness, we can observe the effect, and even map the distribution of the stuff.
Because it doesn’t exist. Dark matter is a fudge factor to prop-up a theory that astrophysics is too afraid to put to rest.
I'm not sure which theory you refer to? Normal physics works pretty well for most stuff and no one claims it knows everything.
My attempt to summarize the reasons would be: We haven't directly detected dark matter because we don't really know what we are looking for, and there are only a few things we can search for. Dark matter might not be structured in a way we can investigate with current technology. Also, dark matter doesn't interact much with regular matter, which makes the search even harder.
> Also, dark matter doesn't interact much with regular matter, which makes the search even harder. This is (one of the many places) where I get lost. It has mass, so it by definition interacts with anything with mass? Are these particles supposed to be so small and so rare that they can't be measured even at the scale of solar system? (How much dark matter would be in the solar system? What would be the average densi…