Fast radio bursts may help study dark matter
Researchers have used fast radio bursts (FRBs) to measure how galactic feedback affects the distribution of matter in intergalactic space. This data helps scientists better understand dark matter, dark energy, and the role of supermassive black holes in cosmic structure.
Why it matters
Advancing our understanding of dark matter and cosmic structure is fundamental to modern astrophysics and cosmology.
--> In the United States, a team of researchers analyzed around 100 fast radio bursts (FRBs) and, for the first time, directly measured with their help the effect of galactic feedback on matter inhomogeneity in intergalactic space. This could aid cosmological studies of dark matter, dark energy and neutrino mass, Space.com reports .
Fast radio bursts are short but intense flashes of radio waves. Their origin has not been definitively established, but they are now associated with magnetars — rapidly rotating dead stars with extraordinarily strong magnetic fields.
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