The Physics of Darkness: Sheldon's Dark Matter

The Big Bang Theory is an American TV show produced and distributed by CBS since 2007. Created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, the series describes the daily life of a group of friends: Lenard, Sheldon, Howard and Raj. The four scientists will live many adventures: from unexpected marriages to significant scientific discoveries.

The most eclectic of the group is surely Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Sociopathic, brilliant and sometimes childish, Sheldon represents the stereotype of the misfit scientist. In the first episodes of the series, Cooper is engaged in the development of a scientific model that can explain the characteristics of dark matter.

The physicist Sheldon Cooper is a genius in his field.

What are the experimental evidences of this type of matter?

Scientists for the first time hypothesized the existence of dark matter by referring to rotation curves of galaxies. In fact, they noticed that the velocity of rotation of spiral galaxies did not decrease according to Kepler's laws of motion. It remained almost constant for long distances from the galactic centre. This effect could be explained by stipulating the existence of additional material, not visible (obscure indeed), able to produce a gravitational force keeping the rotational speed constant.

The rotation curve of a galaxy. Kepler's laws of motion predict a decrease in the rotational speed. This does not happen suggesting the presence of a dark matter halo.

Furthermore, the gravitational lens effect was observed in regions of space where there was no presence of visible masses. For this reason, dark matter is thought to curve space-time in the vicinity of galaxies and generate this optical effect. According to recent theories, about 27% of the total mass of our Universe is dark!

The study of descriptive models of dark matter is still ongoing. Dr. Sheldon Cooper will have to use all his genius to solve this problem (along with many others!).

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