At Forbes: The “miracle” hope for finding the dark matter of the universe is dead

Doesn't the Standard Model of Cosmology depend on the existence of Dark Matter? What if we are looking for something that just doesn't exist? How would we ever know? How long do we keep on looking? Is there a reasonable time frame we should allow here before we give up? Will we ever give up? Is it possible that Dark Matter is a rescue device for the Big Bang? What would that do to the Big Bang Theory? tjguy

What is actually ruled out is not dark matter, but WIMPs. The term means "weakly interacting massive particles". Most things in our day to day life, interact with the coulomb force. The electrons in your skin molecules repel the electrons in the table, and so your arm rests comfortably on its surface. Atoms are held together by the coulomb force, but the strong force holds the nuclei in the atom together (who otherwise would repel each other by the coulomb force.) What is the weak force? It is a bit of mystery, responsible for allowing neutrons to turn into protons and electrons. At high enough energies or temperatures, it combines with the coulomb force, leading theorists to call it the "electro-weak" force. The key point is that at normal temperatures (which includes the interior of the Sun!), the weak force produces neutrinos which don't interact with much at all. About a hundred million neutrinos, produced in the center of the Sun, are going through your body every second, yet not one interacts with your body even as it continues to go through the entire Earth and outwards toward Jupiter. So the question came up--if the mysterious gravity that holds our galaxy together and outnumbers the stars and planets by 7:1, is all in neutrinos, would that account for dark matter? Well, it would, but if dark matter were neutrinos, we'd have seen them by now. So the "WIMP miracle", was the idea that a "fat neutrino" could solve two problems at once---it would account for gravity without being seen, and it would explain why the Higgs mass was so heavy (125GeV). Historically, particle physicists have been getting quite anxious since the last discovered particle in the "standard model" was the J/psi back in the 70's, an no new particles have appeared. So this WIMP miracle not only would be a new particle needing more theorists (what the field calls "new physics"), but it crossed over into cosmology and solved a problem for astronomy, thereby opening up astronomy grants for particle physicists. Alas, 30 years of searching for this fat neutrino have come up with a fat zero. This does not mean that dark matter doesn't exist, but simply that it is not a fat neutrino. Some particle physicists have gone after "axions", others have gone after "sterile neutrinos". Still others want to modify the laws of gravity. I'm arguing that we need better mesoscale physics--namely comets can explain both galaxy gravity and big bang cosmology. Why has this not been discussed before? Maybe because there were too many green pastures for particle physicists. Perhaps when the food supply dwindles this little weed patch will get some attention. Robert Sheldon

Here are a few more deficiencies in the standard model:

Physics beyond the Standard Model Physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) refers to the theoretical developments needed to explain the deficiencies of the Standard Model, such as the strong CP problem, neutrino oscillations, matter–antimatter asymmetry, and the nature of dark matter and dark energy.[1] Another problem lies within the mathematical framework of the Standard Model itself: the Standard Model is inconsistent with that of general relativity, to the point where one or both theories break down under certain conditions (for example within known spacetime singularities like the Big Bang and black hole event horizons). Theories that lie beyond the Standard Model include various extensions of the standard model through supersymmetry,,, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_beyond_the_Standard_Model

Moreover, as Ethan Siegel pointed out, "The models of supersymmetry or extra dimensions that give the right dark matter abundances through the weak interactions are ruled out by these experiments." Siegel further quips that the "search is now reminiscent of the drunk looking for his lost keys beneath the lamppost. He knows they're not there, but it's the only place where the light enabling him to look shines."

The 'WIMP Miracle' Hope For Dark Matter Is Dead - Feb 22, 2019, Excerpt: The models of supersymmetry or extra dimensions that give the right dark matter abundances through the weak interactions are ruled out by these experiments. If there is WIMP dark matter, it must be weaker than the weak interaction permits to comprise 100% of the dark matter.,,, Theorists can always tweak their models, and have done so many times, pushing the anticipated cross-section down and down as null result after null result rolls in. That's the worst kind of science you can do, however: simply shifting the goalposts for no physical reason other than your experimental constraints have become more severe. There is no longer any motivation, other than preferring a conclusion that the data rules out, in doing so.,,, Our hunt for dark matter in the lab, through direct detection efforts, continues to place important constraints on what physics may be present beyond the Standard Model. For those wedded to miracles, though, any positive results now appear increasingly unlikely. That search is now reminiscent of the drunk looking for his lost keys beneath the lamppost. He knows they're not there, but it's the only place where the light enabling him to look shines. The WIMP miracle may be dead and gone, as particles interacting through the weak force at the electroweak scale have been disfavored by both colliders and direct detection. The idea of WIMP dark matter, however, lives on. We just have to remember, when you hear WIMP, we include dark matter that's weaker and wimpier than even the weak interactions will allow. There is undoubtedly something new out there in the Universe, waiting to be discovered.,,, https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2019/02/22/the-wimp-miracle-is-dead-as-dark-matter-experiments-come-up-empty-again/#3123b5876dbc

Perhaps we can help the drunk find his keys by looking where the keys might actually be, rather than looking only where the drunk prefers them to be? Another glaring deficiency in the standard model that was not mentioned in the wikipedia article is that conscious observation and/or consciousness itself was left on the cutting room floor in the quest to find a mathematical 'theory of everything' via the standard model. The standard model grew out of the success of Quantum electrodynamics (QED). And QED unifies special relativity with quantum mechanics. https://uncommondescent.com/philosophy/theoretical-physicist-takes-on-panpsychism-bam-pow/#comment-670698 Richard Feynman (and others) were only able to unify special relativity and quantum mechanics into Quantum Electrodynamics by quote unquote “brushing infinity under the rug” with a technique called Renormalization. One of the interesting facets of “brushing infinity under the rug” in Quantum-Electrodynamics is that, interestingly, “Although quantum field theory is fully compatible with the special theory of relativity, a relativistic treatment of quantum measurement has yet to be formulated.”

Not So Real – Sheldon Lee Glashow – Oct. 2018 Review of: “What Is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics” by Adam Becker Excerpt: Heisenberg, Schrödinger, and their contemporaries knew well that the theory they devised could not be made compatible with Einstein’s special theory of relativity. First order in time, but second order in space, Schrödinger’s equation is nonrelativistic. Although quantum field theory is fully compatible with the special theory of relativity, a relativistic treatment of quantum measurement has yet to be formulated. https://inference-review.com/article/not-so-real

That is to say, although they unified special relativity and quantum mechanics together in QED by “brushing infinity under the rug”, this unification between special relativity and quantum mechanics into Quantum Electrodynamics came at the price of leaving the entire enigma of Quantum Measurement on the cutting room floor.

The Measurement Problem in quantum mechanics – (Inspiring Philosophy) – 2014 video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB7d5V71vUE

Yet quantum measurement is precisely where conscious observation makes its presence fully known in quantum mechanics. As the following researcher stated, “It proves that measurement is everything. At the quantum level, reality does not exist if you are not looking at it.”

New Mind-blowing Experiment Confirms That Reality Doesn’t Exist If You Are Not Looking at It – June 3, 2015 Excerpt: Some particles, such as photons or electrons, can behave both as particles and as waves. Here comes a question of what exactly makes a photon or an electron act either as a particle or a wave. This is what Wheeler’s experiment asks: at what point does an object ‘decide’? The results of the Australian scientists’ experiment, which were published in the journal Nature Physics, show that this choice is determined by the way the object is measured, which is in accordance with what quantum theory predicts. “It proves that measurement is everything. At the quantum level, reality does not exist if you are not looking at it,” said lead researcher Dr. Andrew Truscott in a press release.,,, “The atoms did not travel from A to B. It was only when they were measured at the end of the journey that their wave-like or particle-like behavior was brought into existence,” he said. Thus, this experiment adds to the validity of the quantum theory and provides new evidence to the idea that reality doesn’t exist without an observer. http://themindunleashed.org/2015/06/new-mind-blowing-experiment-confirms-that-reality-doesnt-exist-if-you-are-not-looking-at-it.html

Thus since QED, and by extension the standard model itself, has left quantum measurement, i.e. conscious observation, on the cutting room floor by “brushing infinity under the rug”, then it necessarily follows that our best theory of the interactions of the fundamental particles of the universe, i.e. our best 'theory of everything', will never include an adequate account of consciousness. Needless to say, since we would never know anything about the universe in the first place without us first being conscious of the universe, then that is a fairly large deficiency to have in any purported 'theory of everything': Moreover, allowing the Agent causality of God ‘back’ into physics, as the Christian founders of modern science originally envisioned, and as quantum mechanics itself now empirically demands, provides a very plausible resolution for the much sought after ‘theory of everything’ in that Christ’s resurrection from the dead provides an empirically backed reconciliation, via the Shroud of Turin, between quantum mechanics and general relativity into that quote unquote ‘Theory of Everything” https://uncommondescent.com/philosophy/neurosurgeon-asks-do-we-have-free-will-or-not/#comment-673312

(February 19, 2019) To support Isabel Piczek’s claim that the Shroud of Turin does indeed reveal a true ‘event horizon’, the following study states that ‘The bottom part of the cloth (containing the dorsal image) would have born all the weight of the man’s supine body, yet the dorsal image is not encoded with a greater amount of intensity than the frontal image.’,,, Moreover, besides gravity being dealt with, the shroud also gives us evidence that Quantum Mechanics was dealt with. In the following paper, it was found that it was not possible to describe the image formation on the Shroud in classical terms but they found it necessary to describe the formation of the image on the Shroud in discrete quantum terms. https://uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/experiment-quantum-particles-can-violate-the-mathematical-pigeonhole-principle/#comment-673179

i.e. The correct 'Theory of Everything' finds its resolution in the Agent Causality of Christianity. Specifically, in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead:

Colossians 1:15-20 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Job 38:4-5 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it?

Supplemental notes:

Albert Einstein vs. Quantum Mechanics and His Own Mind – video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxFFtZ301j4

bornagain77

Well, of course there is the chance that what's happening in the way of stuff in Outer Space not obeying all the gravity rules is because of some-One and not some-thing. And of course the Someone makes his own laws. vmahuna