[X] My Assistant

[dvandorn]

I've tried to ask this kind of question on one or two physics forums and have been soundly humiliated because I cannot arrive independently at the mathematical equations that define the inflation theory (i.e., "if you have to ask for explanations of the math in English, you are far too stupid to speak with us and should stop worrying your tiny little brain over matters that you, unlike us, can never hope to understand" -- that's darned near a direct quote). I'm kind of hoping one of our people here can point me to a source, or explain in English words, what is wrong with my issue, here.

It has to do with the fact that dark matter is apparently immune from being ingested into the supermassive black holes that occupy the centers of all the galaxies, as far as we can tell. A report in one of the popular science magazines from last year (IIRC) stated that this has been definitely proven -- that the derived distribution of dark matter and its derivedly-observed behavior when galaxies collide prove that dark matter is not attracted gravitationally to regular matter.

The article stated that this observation means we have to rethink all of our concepts of dark matter being composed of weakly interacting massive particles -- that any particle with mass must inevitably be attracted to other massive particles (and particularly to black holes), regardless of how weakly they interact.

I've seen nothing published since then. My basic curiosity is, how can dark matter affect regular matter gravitationally but not vice-versa? Anyone seen any theories about this, any publications you could point me towards? I find nothing in internet searches beyond this article I mentioned.

-the other Doug