Question

Finish this statement: "Dark matter could have had much greater variations in density and been able to come together to form gravitational 'traps' that could then have begun to attract ordinary matter immediately after the universe became transparent. As ordinary matter became increasingly concentrated, it could have _____.

Answer 1

The statement to complete is: "As ordinary matter became increasingly concentrated, it could have turned into galaxies quickly thanks to these dark matter traps." Dark matter's ability to form gravitational traps influenced the rapid formation of galaxies in the universe's early stages.

Step-by-step explanation:

To complete the statement: "As ordinary matter became increasingly concentrated, it could have turned into galaxies quickly thanks to these dark matter traps." This process is integral because while our instruments that measure the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) provide data on density fluctuations solely for ordinary matter, dark matter does not interact with light, allowing it the potential to aggregate into high-density zones forming gravitational traps.

These gravitational traps could attract ordinary matter post-universe becoming transparent, streamlining the path to galaxy formation. For an analogy, dark matter traps are similar to traffic lights that force cars to bunch up; as the early universe cleared, ordinary matter no longer swept along by radiation could fall into these traps, concentrating and eventually leading to galaxies. This understanding clarifies why galaxies could form as early as 400-500 million years after the Big Bang, driven by the influence of dark matter on matter distribution and gravitational attraction.