Knowra Cold dark matter Cold dark matter Cold dark matter is a hypothesized form of matter that interacts primarily through gravity and moved nonrelativistically as cosmic structures formed. It helps explain how galaxies and larger structures grew from small early-universe density variations.
Cosmic structure formation : The growth of galaxies, clusters, and other large-scale structures from density variations in the early universe. Cold dark matter’s gravitational collapse supplies the framework in which these structures form.
Dark matter : Matter inferred from its gravitational effects that emits, absorbs, and reflects little or no light. Cold dark matter is one proposed physical form of this broader gravitationally inferred component.
Warm dark matter : Dark matter moving fast enough in the early universe to suppress the formation of small structures. Its free streaming erases small-scale density fluctuations that cold dark matter preserves.
Weakly interacting massive particle : A hypothetical massive particle with interactions around the weak scale, once a leading dark-matter candidate. WIMPs could behave as cold dark matter, but searches have not confirmed them.
ΛCDM model : The standard cosmological model combining cold dark matter, dark energy, ordinary matter, and general relativity. It uses cold dark matter to explain structure growth and observations of the universe.
Non-baryonic dark matter : Dark matter made of particles or fields other than protons, neutrons, and their bound nuclei. Cold dark matter is generally modeled as non-baryonic rather than ordinary atomic matter.
Hot dark matter : Dark matter moving relativistically in the early universe, which streams across small density fluctuations. Its top-down structure formation conflicts with the observed early growth of small galaxies.
Axion : A hypothetical light particle proposed to solve the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics. Cosmological axions could form cold dark matter despite having very different properties from WIMPs.
Dark matter halo : A roughly spherical region of dark matter gravitationally bound around a galaxy or galaxy cluster. Cold dark matter collects into halos that provide gravitational scaffolding for galaxies.
Cosmic microwave background : The relic radiation released when the early universe became transparent, now observed as microwave light. Its temperature and polarization patterns constrain the cosmic abundance of cold dark matter.
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