View Full Version : A world of WIMPs and MACHOs?


kingcarrot
03-07-07, 11:11 PM
Are these the two theoretical fundamental particles? please sum up explanations in a non lengthy way as i have a short attention span, hence my coming here and not reading the confusing pages of shit i looked up. no links either, PLEASE!

Xelios
03-08-07, 12:04 AM
As I understand it both are possible explanations for dark matter. WIMP's are hypothesised to interact with normal matter only through gravity and the weak nuclear force. Because of this they don't give off any EM radiation and would be very hard to detect. I remember reading that they're predicted by the theory of supersymmetry but haven't been detected thus far.

MACHO's I must admit I don't really understand. Supposedly they're astronomical bodies, not fundemental particles, that don't give off radiation. Another proposed explanation for dark matter. I believe black holes and some dwarf stars could be called MACHO's.