About this Research Topic
Dark Matter is one of the most intriguing mysteries of the Universe. It makes up to 99.9% of the mass of galaxies, however, its spatial distribution and nature are largely unknown. To retrieve such knowledge for galaxies is particularly important and it is a thrilling time, now, that several experiments seem to rule out the much-favored Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) as Dark Matter.
On the other side, the rich and articulated phenomenology of the distribution of luminous and dark matter in galaxies, obtained by their kinematics so as by accurate weak and strong lensing measurements, is becoming always more complex and it seems to follow a unique pre-fixed design.
The distribution of matter in galaxies has a character of universality and it strongly indicates that the dark and the luminous components must interact among themselves in a way that is very different than through only gravitational force. There are no doubts that investigations of Dark Matter in galaxies and in other cosmological structures are now likely to traverse a portal to New Unknown Physics. Today, observations lead the way towards building a new successful paradigm of structure formation and evolution. We are confident that Dark Matter is a main protagonist of the Universe, but it is likely that our concepts, matured during the past 30 years of investigation, require drastic revisions.
In tandem with the above backdrop, this Research Topic brings together novel findings on theory, observations, experiments and numerical simulations that address the necessary and imminent shift in the Dark Matter paradigm. We also broadly welcome papers related to dark matter and galaxies.
On the other side, the rich and articulated phenomenology of the distribution of luminous and dark matter in galaxies, obtained by their kinematics so as by accurate weak and strong lensing measurements, is becoming always more complex and it seems to follow a unique pre-fixed design.
The distribution of matter in galaxies has a character of universality and it strongly indicates that the dark and the luminous components must interact among themselves in a way that is very different than through only gravitational force. There are no doubts that investigations of Dark Matter in galaxies and in other cosmological structures are now likely to traverse a portal to New Unknown Physics. Today, observations lead the way towards building a new successful paradigm of structure formation and evolution. We are confident that Dark Matter is a main protagonist of the Universe, but it is likely that our concepts, matured during the past 30 years of investigation, require drastic revisions.
In tandem with the above backdrop, this Research Topic brings together novel findings on theory, observations, experiments and numerical simulations that address the necessary and imminent shift in the Dark Matter paradigm. We also broadly welcome papers related to dark matter and galaxies.
Keywords: dark matter, dark matter particle searches, exotic DM, Galaxy Formation and Structure, Cosmology
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