Fast Radio Bursts Lead Astronomers to Locate Elusive ‘Missing’ Matter in the Cosmos
Scientists have successfully used mysterious fast radio bursts (FRBs) to pinpoint the location of the universe’s long-sought ‘missing’ matter. These FRBs, which are intense pulses of radio waves lasting only milliseconds, have helped researchers to map the structure of the cosmos and account for a significant portion of the ordinary matter that was previously unaccounted for.
For years, astronomers have been puzzled by the discrepancy between the amount of matter predicted by the Big Bang theory and what they could actually observe. It was calculated that almost half of the ordinary, or baryonic, matter was effectively ‘missing.’ This missing matter was theorized to exist in the form of diffuse gas located in the vast spaces between galaxies.
In a new study published in the journal Nature, researchers detail how they used FRBs as cosmic flashlights to illuminate this hidden matter. When an FRB travels through space, it interacts with matter along its path, causing the radio waves to disperse. By analyzing the dispersion patterns of these bursts, scientists can estimate the density of matter along the line of sight.
The team focused on a specific FRB, designated FRB 20220610A, which was detected by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, they were able to precisely pinpoint the origin of this FRB to a galaxy billions of light-years away.
This precise location allowed them to measure the amount of intervening matter with unprecedented accuracy. Their findings confirmed that the FRB had indeed passed through a significant amount of diffuse gas, consistent with predictions of where the missing matter should reside.
According to study author Dr. Pranav Kumar, the discovery confirms theoretical predictions about the distribution of matter in the universe. By using FRBs as probes, astronomers can now study the large-scale structure of the cosmos in a new way, offering insights into the evolution of galaxies and the overall composition of the universe.
The research team plans to continue using FRBs to map the distribution of matter in the universe, with the goal of creating a comprehensive census of all the missing baryons. This will involve detecting and analyzing more FRBs from various locations in the sky and using advanced telescopes to pinpoint their origins.
This breakthrough not only solves a long-standing mystery in cosmology but also demonstrates the power of using transient astronomical events like FRBs to study the fundamental properties of the universe. The ongoing and future FRB surveys promise to reveal even more about the hidden components of the cosmos and our understanding of its origins and evolution.
