170 WIMPs and String Theory

WIMP: Weakly Interacting Massive Particles

WIMPs are hypothetical extraordinary Dark Matter. Again, they are dark by their nature (WIMPs do not emit any sort of radiation that can be observed with our current technologies. They interact through weak forces, not gravity and are slow moving enough to collect into galaxies, called cold dark matter .

String Theory

A model of physics, which interprets all particles and forces in terms of specific vibration modes of submicroscopic particle strings . String theory originated in the late 1960s. Strings – elementary one-dimensional particles – must be stretched under tension through the Universe, like a guitar string. Supporters of the String Theory state that it unifies the natural known forces: electromagnetic, gravitational, strong and weak.

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Introduction to Astronomy Copyright © by Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book