Everyone please weigh in here... I'm watching "Most of our Universe is Missing" on

[GreekTTC]

the Science Channel...and it's very interesting...but something that was said popped an idea into my head.

 

Basically, the "Dark Matter" theory was created to fill the void created by the questions "Why doesn't our universe fall apart?" and "Why are the rotational curves for stars in galaxies flat?" The total amount of visible matter in our universe doesn't equal near enough mass to hold it all together, so the theory of Dark Matter was born as an explanation. As they say...96% of our universe is missing.

 

That's all well and good.

 

But why does it have to be invisible matter within our universe? Here's the point of my post: Let's go big. Bigger than our universe. Bigger than a multiverse. Can't it be huge gravity at a universal center...or even outside of our universe that's creating the extra pull/extra gravity?

 

Here's how it breaks down (fairly elementary):

 

Moons orbit planets.

Planets orbit stars to form solar systems.

Stars orbit black holes to form galaxies.

 

What do the black holes orbit? Does it make sense to think that maybe the extra gravity isn't from unseen "Dark Matter," but from a universal or multiversal center which we don't have the technology to be aware of? And do universes orbit anything? Are black holes and our universe (or universes) just floating around out there? Why shouldn't they orbit something like most everything else in the cosmos?

 

Is there any theory or idea like this? Does it even make sense? :shrug: I've never read anything related.

[Tormod]

A lot of good questions.

 

It certainly makes sense to think about those things, but the problem is that it will be impossible in the foreseeable future (but hey, what do I know!) to prove any of these things since they mean that we need to find a way to measure forces that are not part of our own universe.

 

Dark matter is not really so mysterious - it is more that it is unobservable. It is not necessary to put it in the center of anything, as no observations supporting a rotating universe has been made (AFAIK). The mystery lies in what it *is*, not that it is there. Local gravity fields in galaxy clusters, for example, show that the galaxy is under the influence of *something* in the area, and the only explanation currently on offer is dark matter.

 

This shows that dark matter is both abundant (the calculated mass is huge, like 90 times that of what we observe) and widespread (we make these observations all over the place).

 

But it could in theory be explained by flying black alien wizards, too.

[ronthepon]

Just thought I'd say a teeny bit here.

 

Black holes are not always the galaxy centers. You could ask what do galaxies orbit.

 

I think that I've come across galaxy clusters, but thats not the point here...