Cosmic Ghosts: Hunting for Clues in the Dark Matter Realm

Abstract

Dark Matter appears as a central and mysterious entity that permeates the cosmos, standing as one of the most perplexing and intricate challenges in physics, overcoming borders and driving the convergence of several scientific fields in an attempt to solve its mysteries. As Dark Matter is by far the most prevalent particle in the universe, we would like to know what exactly makes it up since this would be helpful in understanding the dynamics of galaxies and the development of the universe. In fact, scientists have been meticulously cataloging the stuff in the cosmos for more than 50 years. But in spite of our astounding findings in the field of physics, the puzzle of dark matter, which dates back from 1993 when Zwicky remarked that the Coma cluster of galaxies would not remain bound unless it contains considerably more mass than we can see in stars, has still been unsolved [1]. It is embarrassing to know that 95% of the Universe’s gravitating matter is non luminous, and we do not yet know the exact amount, or the nature, of this obviously major component of the physical universe. In this paper, I will outline a thorough overview of the data and scientific details about Dark Matter’s astrophysical evidence, candidates, detection methods, and alternative theory, with the goal to provide non-expertised readers an insight and approachable view of the Dark Matter question.