The cosmos is a diverse and complicated system with many unanswered questions. To yet, the mapping of the universe by astronomers has shown that tiny galaxies may be randomly scattered around their hosts. However, new research shows that these small galaxies create narrow disks surrounding their hosts, according to Vice. To say that this is perplexing would be an understatement. It contradicts existing physics theories.
Astrophysics in a new light
Scientists of Nottingham came up with a novel hypothesis to explain this brand-new data. They hypothesize that smaller galaxies have adapted to “walls” generated by a new class of particles called symmetrons, which are undetectable to the naked eye. The rules of astrophysics might be rewritten, creating a new sort of physics if this is shown to be accurate.
It is generally accepted that the universe can be explained by just three types of fundamental matter: cosmological constants, cold dark matter, and the everyday stuff to which humans have access. Because of the gravitational attraction of their bigger host galaxies, smaller galaxies might be forced to move in chaotic orbits, a hypothesis that has yet to be proved via scientific study. Scientists think they’ve found a way to explain the strange orbits of dwarf galaxies by the existence of a mysterious fifth factor. Invisible barriers may be built.
The abstract reads:
The observed `planes of satellites’ around the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies are notoriously difficult to explain under the ΛCDM paradigm. Here, we propose an alternative solution: domain walls arising in theories with symmetry-breaking scalar fields coupled to matter. Because of the matter coupling, satellite galaxies experience fifth forces as they pass through domain walls, leading to a subset of satellites with orbits confined to the domain wall plane.
Galaxies could have been organized into disks because of a never-before-observed force; symmetrons might be utilizing this same space to produce “domain barriers,” which are unseen borders in space. Is it possible that this hypothesis is correct? Even if the findings aren’t clear, they do open the door to a number of fascinating possibilities.
