Dark matter, one of the largest and most mysterious components of the universe, also plays a key role in unraveling the mysteries of the universe. The role of this mysterious substance in the universe was discussed at the “Dark Matter at the “Invisible Power of the Universe” conference held at Near East University, which is ranked among the top 300 universities in the world in the fields of “Physical Sciences”, “Computer Sciences” and “Engineering” by Times Higher Education.
The conference, organized by the Near East University Health Operations Research Center, was attended by Prof. Dr. İsa Dumanoğlu who carries out studies in the field of “experimental high energy physics” at CERN and is among the top 500 academicians in the world.
At the conference, issues such as evidence for the existence of dark matter, its effect on the expansion of the universe and its role in the formation of galaxies were examined in depth; Prof. Dr. İsa Dumanoğlu discussed the following topics; “Orbital Velocities of Planets”, “What is Dark Matter”, “Dark Matter and Galaxy Orbital Velocities”, “Gravitational Lensing”, “Discovery of Dark Matter” and “Big Bang”.
The conference, which was broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of Near East University, was moderated by Near East University Faculty of Engineering Biomedical Engineering Lecturer Prof. Dr. Dilber Uzun Özşahin.
Prof. Dr. İsa Dumanoğlu: “Dark energy makes up approximately 68 percent of the universe and is associated with the void in space.”
Prof. Dr. İsa Dumanoğlu discussed the issues of dark matter and dark energy and evaluated the effects of these two mysterious components on the dynamics of the universe. Stating that dark energy is a driving force as the dominant component of the universe, Prof. Dr. Dumanoğlu put forward that the rest of the universe consists of ordinary matter and dark matter. Emphasizing that the existence of dark energy was discovered in 1998, Prof. Dr. Dumanoğlu said, “Dark energy is relatively uniform in time and space and is repulsive in the volume it occupies. This energy makes up about 68 percent of the universe and is associated with the vacuum of space. Dark energy is distributed evenly throughout the universe, not only in space but also in time. In other words, its influence does not decrease as the universe expands. The uniform distribution means that dark energy does not have any local gravitational effects.”
Prof. Dr. Dumanoğlu also pointed out the effect of dark matter on the dynamics of galaxies and said, “Galaxy rotation curves show the change curves of the orbital speeds of galaxies as they move away from the center and that these curves cannot be explained without dark matter. Orbital dynamics explains how planets move around the Sun, how their orbital speeds are calculated, and how these speeds depend on the mass of the planets, the mass of the Sun, and the radius of the orbit. Dark matter and galaxy orbital velocities are concerned with the discovery of dark matter and how it is discovered through its effects on the orbital velocities of galaxies. Dark matter models examine the nature of dark matter and its effects on the dynamics of galaxies.”
Prof. Dr. Dumanoğlu stated that gravitational lensing is an important tool in confirming the existence of dark matter and said, “Gravitational lensing explains how this phenomenon, known as gravitational lensing, works, how light is bent by mass and is used for dark matter mapping. This method is used to map the distribution of dark matter around galaxies and galaxy clusters, and observational evidence is supported by observations of the existence of dark matter.” Finally, touching on the Big Bang theory, Prof. Dr. Dumanoğlu said, “The Big Bang theory focuses on how the universe was in an extremely dense and hot state at the beginning and how it expanded from this state to its current state. The cosmic microwave background refers to the radiation created by the cooling of the universe after the Big Bang and provides information about the initial conditions of the universe. The expansion of the universe is related to Edwin Hubble’s discovery that the universe is expanding and this discovery led to the Big Bang theory.” and emphasized the importance of these two mysterious components in understanding the dynamics of the universe.