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If dark matter interacts gravitationally and not electromagnetically, then dark matter should orbit a mass like normal. But thier orbits are not restricted to outside the mass.

Would dark matter just accumulate in the center of masses in virtue of collapsing orbits and not being repelled by EM? If a bigger mass were nearby it would 'steal' the dark matter from the smaller, or rather it will collect at the center of the masses. Why dont we detect dark matter flowing between two large masses, instead of the more 'cluster' distribution we see?

side question: how can dark matter have a temperature above 0k if its not giving off light?

Kadmilos
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  • You have to imagine dark matter interaction on a universal scale rather than just a solar system scale. If there were to be "competing masses" for dark matter than they would ultimately be attracted to one another and perhaps interact in some way; join up, split, shoot each other apart etc. – Mark Pace Feb 09 '18 at 22:26
  • The thing is detecting these particles is very difficult because of their nature and experiments are currently being done to try and detect them. You are right that they are attracted towards the center of masses.

    I would direct you to this interesting youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77yXhAibQp4

     – Mark Pace Feb 09 '18 at 22:28
  • Remember that we don't know what dark matter is yet. There are theories and ideas, but we don't have any real certainty. So your request for details may be very hard to fulfill. – StephenG - Help Ukraine Feb 10 '18 at 00:35
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    It is worth noting that if you consider the orbits of stars around and through their host galaxies you get essentially the same kinds of questions and answers that you get for dark matter (both are well modeled as a collisionless gas), and you mostly don't see star flow between galaxies either because the conditions for such flows last a short time compared to the present age of the universe. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Feb 10 '18 at 00:42
  • Answer to side question: Objects have to contain electric charges to be able to absorb and emit photons. If a hypothetical dark matter particle didn't have any electric charge, they couldn't give off light no matter what temperature they were at. – Michael Seifert Feb 22 '18 at 17:32

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