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Q:
Could parallel universes be the answer to the dark matter
mystery?
A:
The solution to the dark matter problem may well involve
something very close to a parallel universe. This is shadow
matter, matter that interacts very weakly with the rest of the
universe only through gravity. The key to proving this
hypothesis is the phrase "very weakly." If the electromagnetic
or nuclear interactions of shadow matter with the rest of the
universe is not exactly zero, then it may be possible to detect
by some means other than its gravitational effects
The idea for shadow matter comes from some theories that
attempt to unify gravity with the electromagnetic and nuclear
forces. These theories predict that every fundamental matter
particle should have a massive "shadow" force carrier particle,
and every force carrier should have a massive "shadow" matter
particle. This relationship between matter particles and force
carriers is called supersymmetry. For example, for every type of
quark there may be a type of particle called a "squark," and for
every photon there is a particle called a photino. No
supersymmetric particle has yet been found, but experiments are
underway at CERN and Fermilab to detect supersymmetric partner
particles. http://particleadventure.org/particleadventure/
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