“If this new paper is correct, however, the only flaw is that cosmologists have taken one of the earliest simulation results — that dark matter forms halos with cusps at the center — and believed their conclusions prematurely. In science, it’s important to check your work and to have its results checked independently. But if everyone’s making the same error, these checks aren’t independent at all.
Disentangling whether these simulated results are due to the actual physics of dark matter or the numerical techniques we’ve chosen could put an end to the biggest debate over dark matter. If it’s due to actual physics after all, the core-cusp problem will remain a point of tension for dark matter models. But if it’s due to the technique we use to simulate these halos, one of cosmology’s biggest controversies could evaporate overnight.”
On large cosmic scales, cold dark matter provides the perfect answer to a number of puzzles. Without it, the cosmic microwave background, the large-scale galaxy clustering seen in the Universe, the absorption properties of gas clouds intercepted by background quasar light, gravitational lensing and much more cannot be explained. However, on small scales, the simulations of dark matter all produce expected dark matter halos whose properties don’t align with the small galaxies we actually see. For decades, dark matter’s detractors have latched onto this as the biggest flaw with dark matter. But a new study says it might be a flaw of the simulation methods used, not of the theory at all.
If so, it might turn out that dark matter’s biggest apparent problem is simply a numerical error, resolving one of cosmologies greatest controversies.
Dark Matter's Biggest Problem Might Simply Be A Numerical Error
https://www.forbes.com/...rk-matters-biggest-problem-might-simply-be-a-numerical-error/#17f3a6208979