Dark matter isn’t so cold after all express
The enigma of dark matter was already studied by Fritz Zwicky and Vera Rubin. For decades, it was depicted as a cold, listless skeleton that only draws galaxies together. A fresh look at data from supernovae, dark energy, and measurements of the universe’s expansion hints that this skeleton not only holds but also flexes gently, pushing itself apart. This effect, negative pressure, is billions of times weaker than the familiar gravitational attraction of particles, yet it reshapes the notion of dark matter’s passive nature. Researchers emphasize that the finding doesn’t depend on the chosen dark energy model. Maybe the standard cosmological model will soon embrace new physics, even though the mystery of the universe’s differing expansion rates remains unsolved.
Original abstract
as written by the authors arXiv:2601.01340v1
Comprehensive cosmological analysis of an effective non-standard dark matter(NSDM) model, characterized by an equation of state $$w_{\mathrm{dm}} = w_2 a^2$$, which allows for mild deviations from the previously assumed pressureless cold dark matter, is elaborated in the present work. This effective description framework is the scenarios that matter contents coupled to three distinct single-parameter dynamical dark energy models: i.e, the thawing scalar field, the Modified Emergent Dark Energy(MEDE) scenario, and the constant-$$w$$ model. We constrain these frameworks by using the latest cosmological probes, including the Planck 2018 Cosmic Microwave Background(CMB) distance priors, the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation(BAO) measurements from the Data Release 2 of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument(DESI), and three compilations of Type Ia Supernovae(SN Ia) namely the Dark Energy Survey Year 5 (DESY5) compilation, the Union3 compilation, and the PantheonPlus (PP) sample. Across all three dark energy scenarios and all dataset combinations, we find a consistent preference for negative values of the parameter $$w_2$$. Furthermore, this result is robust against the choice of dark energy parametrization, suggesting a model-independent deviation from "standard" cold dark matter. This result indicates that the dark matter fluid possesses a small but non-vanishing negative pressure, meaning a non-cold nature. While the inferred Hubble constant $$H_0$$ remains consistent with the Planck $$\Lambda$$CDM value and does not fully alleviate the $$H_0$$ tension with local measurements, the persistent detection of $$w_2 < 0$$ across a wide range of independent cosmological probes provides compelling evidence for new physics in the dark matter sector -- suggesting that dark matter may be better described as an effective fluid endowed with a mild negative pressure, rather than as a perfectly cold, pressureless substance.
Negative pressure is a minuscule self-repulsion, billions of times weaker than the gravitational pull we're used to.
Sci-fi writers have long exploited negative pressure for space jumps; now it turns out dark matter itself contains this ingredient, albeit in tiny doses.