Could WIMPs Interact to Form Dark Planets and Stars?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the hypothetical interactions of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) and their potential to form structures akin to planets and stars, often referred to as "dark planets" and "dark stars." Participants explore the implications of WIMPs interacting with each other and with regular matter, as well as the conditions necessary for such formations to occur.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants speculate that if WIMPs interact with each other in a manner similar to regular matter, they could condense under their gravity to form WIMP bodies, potentially leading to the existence of dark planets and stars.
  • One participant mentions the idea of "dark-matter chemistry," suggesting that WIMPs might have their own interactions that could allow for the formation of structures.
  • Another participant raises the question of whether the accretion of regular matter into stars and planets would also include dark matter, leading to the possibility of a binary system where one star appears to have a greater gravitational presence due to dark matter accumulation.
  • Concerns are raised regarding the ability of WIMPs to clump together, with one participant arguing that they would need to give up energy to do so, and questioning the existence of any mechanism for energy loss, such as "dark" electromagnetic radiation.
  • Another participant argues that for WIMPs to clump, there must be a force to hold them together, noting that gravity alone may be insufficient due to its relative weakness in this context.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the feasibility of WIMPs clumping together to form structures. While some propose mechanisms for interaction and formation, others challenge the existence of necessary forces or energy loss mechanisms, indicating that the discussion remains unresolved.

Contextual Notes

The discussion highlights limitations regarding the assumptions about WIMP interactions and the conditions required for clumping, as well as the dependence on definitions of forces and energy mechanisms that remain unclear.

MattRob
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WIMPs and "Ghost Planets"

There's very little known about WIMPs, from my understanding, but I believe there has been some speculation that they interact with each other less-than-weakly, and they most certainly do have a gravitational presence.

So, if WIMPs were to interact with each other in ways akin to how "light" matter particles interact with each other, wouldn't that imply that clouds of WIMPs would, much as regular matter in clouds of hydrogen and helium, condense under their gravity to form WIMP bodies (I would say "star", but that would be assuming WIMPs would undergo fusion with each other in such a configuration like light matter does)?

I just remember seeing some science news magazine speculating, based off of some published papers, on the possibility of WIMPs having their own series of interactions (strictly with other WIMPs) creating "dark-matter chemistry," but if they interacted in the same ways that normal matter does, then they'd form planets and stars.

But if they did that, then wouldn't the accretion of "light" matter into stars and planets accrete this dark matter as well, resulting in dark planets and stars?

(Imagine astronomers discovering that - a binary system where a 10-solar mass star orbits is red dwarf as though the red dwarf had 100 solar masses! All because the red dwarf accreted far more dark matter than light, resulting in a much greater gravitational presence than the other star. Or even a binary system - one star light, the other star dark, so that it appears a star orbits empty space!)
 
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In order for them to clump together, they would have to give up energy. Unless some form of "dark" EM radiation (or some other way to give up energy) exists then I don't see it being possible.
 
In order for things to clump there has to be some sort of force to hold them together. For WIMPS there doesn't appear to be any such force - gravity is far too weak.
 

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