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A Question About Dark Matter Creation

-- Dimitrios | May 16, 2022

Diagram depicting the major milestones in the evolution of the Universe since the Big Bang

Question:

I am an adult professional musician with only little knowledge in physics. So forgive my likely naive question, that is based only on this knowledge.
I read that the Big Bang should have created equal amounts of matter and antimatter in the early universe. Only a tiny portion of matter – about one particle per billion – managed to survive.
Is it possible that when the matter particles came to contact with their respective antimatter particles, they did not totally annihilate (leaving behind pure energy), but rather created a new kind of particle, that does not interact with the electromagnetic field?
Could it be, that during this event of the early universe, the dark matter was created?

I look forward to your answer.

Sincerely,

Dimitris Theologitis

-- Dimitrios

Answer:

There are many theories for how dark matter (and dark energy) are created. A nice summary of those processes, with some information on how scientists are trying to study the potential sources of dark matter and energy, can be found on the CERN web site.

-- Jeff Mangum

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