What if we could clone our galaxy just to peer into the secrets of the invisible? That’s exactly what scientists have done to crack the mystery of dark matter — and the implications are enormous.
Key Points at a Glance
- USC-led team created detailed computer simulations of Milky Way twin galaxies
- The COZMIC project explores how dark matter interacts with normal matter
- New physics enable testing multiple dark matter behavior scenarios
- Simulations could be compared to real telescope data to uncover dark matter’s true nature
For nearly a century, dark matter has remained one of science’s most tantalizing puzzles. It exerts immense gravitational force, shapes entire galaxies, and yet remains invisible to even our most sophisticated instruments. Now, a breakthrough from a USC-led research team could bring us one step closer to understanding this mysterious substance. Their tool? Digital twins of our own Milky Way galaxy, birthed in a supercomputer simulation named COZMIC.
COZMIC, short for “Cosmological Zoom-in Simulations with Initial Conditions beyond Cold Dark Matter,” marks a turning point in astrophysics. For the first time, scientists have the ability to simulate how galaxies like ours form and evolve under radically different physical laws — laws that include not just gravity and dark matter’s mass, but interactions between dark and normal matter as well. These interactions, long hypothesized but never before tested at this scale, could be the missing link in decoding dark matter’s elusive nature.
The brainchild of cosmologist Vera Gluscevic and colleagues Ethan Nadler and Andrew Benson, COZMIC runs a variety of dark matter scenarios through the lens of cutting-edge physics. It allows researchers to observe how these different versions of dark matter affect the shape, structure, and behavior of galaxy twins. Each simulated Milky Way carries the fingerprint of a different dark matter hypothesis — like ghostly imprints revealing what we otherwise cannot see.
Why is this so revolutionary? Because until now, simulations treated dark matter largely as a passive background player, affecting galaxies only via its mass. COZMIC rewrites that script. It explores the possibility that dark matter might actively interact with normal matter — not in exotic or implausible ways, but in forms that could be consistent with emerging physics. For example, what happens if dark matter particles collide with regular matter? Could that explain certain galactic anomalies astronomers observe?
“With COZMIC, for the first time, we’re able to simulate galaxies like our own under radically different physical laws — and test those laws against real astronomical observations,” said Gluscevic. That capability could help scientists match digital galaxies with those observed through telescopes, letting them test which models fit reality best.
The COZMIC team is especially focused on the smallest galaxies, often seen as the most sensitive indicators of dark matter’s behavior. According to Nadler, differences in the way these tiny galaxies form and move could help distinguish between competing theories of dark matter — whether it’s cold, warm, self-interacting, or even capable of interacting with ordinary matter in unexpected ways.
This is more than theoretical. By fine-tuning the simulations to mimic reality, the team hopes to identify which “version of the universe” comes closest to our own. In practical terms, that means mapping which simulated dark matter behaviors match real galaxies observed by telescopes — a process that could unveil the true nature of this invisible cosmic glue.
The work is only beginning. COZMIC will soon be used in tandem with telescope data to search for real-world signatures of dark matter behavior. If successful, the implications would be profound: We might finally understand what dark matter is, how it shaped our cosmos, and where to look for it next.
In a universe where 85% of matter remains invisible, COZMIC may be the lens we’ve been waiting for.
Source: USC Today
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