Dark matter interacts with visible matter via gravity

[Sanborn Chase]

Thanks to all of you for your kind attention to my questions. May I ask another?
If what we're calling dark matter interacts with visible matter via gravity, wouldn't it be concentrated along these arms if density waves are a feature of gravitational force?

 

[davenn]

If what we're calling dark matter interacts with visible matter via gravity, wouldn't it be concentrated along these arms if density waves are a feature of gravitational force?

Hi there

Dark matter/energy and it's interactions are outside my field
I will let others see if they can answer that for your

 

[Drakkith]

ohh yeah ?
I would like to see some valid citations for your comment !

there is NO "appearance" they are really there you can see them go supernova, you can do spectroscopic work on those stars

Their location IS physical

Dave

I don't think rex is saying the stars or the arms don't exist. Just that they are formed from density waves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density_wave_theory

Thanks to all of you for your kind attention to my questions. May I ask another?
If what we're calling dark matter interacts with visible matter via gravity, wouldn't it be concentrated along these arms if density waves are a feature of gravitational force?

No, because instead of staying in the spiral arms, it will pass right through them and continue on unimpeded until gravity slows it down and stops it in the dark matter "halo" that surrounds the galaxy. It will then fall back through the galaxy in another pass. This is because most dark matter is falling into the galaxy from this halo, whereas most of the normal matter is rotating in a disk shape (the latter is due to normal matter also interacting via the EM force).

 

[Chronos]

Since dark matter does not [or, at best, very feebly] interact via the EM force, its distribution is unaffected by friction and collisions with other things that causes ordinary matter to organize itself in the taxonomy of galaxies. DM appears content to coexist as an amorphous blog surrounding most galaxies.

 

[Ken G]

Put differently, since dark matter does not contract into a disk in the first place, there's no density enhancement there to make spiral density waves in.

 

[newjerseyrunner]

I think you are thinking about galaxies and dark matter backwards. Common mistake, I used to too. You envision dark matter being attracted to the galaxies and clumping there right? Wrong. Because there is so much more dark matter than ordinary matter, it's the dark matter that formed clumps and the galaxies bob around inside of them.

This is something bobbing around in water on the international space station. This analogy helps visualize scale, the galaxies are the small bubbles and the dark matter is the dominate blob.