Off-topic for aiqbench

This story was gathered from a source we follow but falls outside AI and quantum coverage, so there is no aiqbench take for it.

UC Santa Cruz physicist tests if dark matter is ‘natural’

Quantum ZeitgeistSeptember 18, 20264 min read

Dark matter makes up most of the matter in the universe and shapes how galaxies form and move, yet no one has directly detected it. UC Santa Cruz physicist Stefano Profumo offers a mathematical “yardstick” to assess different theories, testing if a dark matter candidate is “natural” – meaning it explains the universe without requiring numbers to be delicately fine-tuned.

A UC Santa Cruz physicist is applying a rigorous mathematical test to determine if dark matter candidates are truly “natural,” challenging long-held assumptions within the field. Stefano Profumo, professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, applied the Barbieri-Giudice measure as a “yardstick” to evaluate theories ranging from exotic particles to black holes formed moments after the Big Bang. “There’s a habit of treating primordial black holes as the exotic, fine-tuned alternative, and particle dark matter as the safe,…

Excerpt shown under the publisher's RSS terms · 81 words · full text and figures are on the publisher's site

Read at Quantum Zeitgeist ↗Ask about this article