---
title: "Dark Matter May Be a Deformed Mirror Universe, Scientists Say"
description: "Does dark matter reside in a deformed mirror universe of our own, where rules are different and atoms failed to form?"
date: "2024-02-18"
modified: "2024-02-18"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/dark-matter-mirror-universe"
categories:
  - "Astrophysics"
  - "Dark Matter"
  - "Physics"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "dark matter"
  - "physics"
  - "the digest"
  - "universe"
---

# Dark Matter May Be a Deformed Mirror Universe, Scientists Say

![Does dark matter reside in a deformed mirror universe of our own, where rules are different and atoms failed to form?](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/dark-matter-mirror-universe.jpg>)
*Close up details of soap bubbles \<em\>Image: Roc Canals/Getty Images\</em\>*

## Dark Universe

You know dark matter, the mysterious stuff that most physicists now believe makes up the bulk of the universe — even though it remains completely undetectable, except for its gravitational effects on regular matter?

There's no shortage of far-out theories about the hypothetical material: that it's [hiding inside an extra dimension](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-say-dark-matter-could-be-hiding-inside-an-extra-dimension>), that it [originated in a second Bing Bang](<https://futurism.com/second-dark-big-bang>), that [it's information itself](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientist-dark-matter-information>), or even that it [doesn't exist at all](<https://futurism.com/new-study-claims-dark-matter-doesnt-exist>).

Now, [as spotted](<https://www.livescience.com/author/paul-sutter>) by Flatiron Institute astrophysicist and indefatigable science journalist Paul Sutter, a [new paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.12286>) offers yet another exotic potential explanation: that dark matter resides in a deformed mirror universe inside of own, where atoms failed to form.

## Coincidencer

As Sutter explains, the research builds off a pair of intriguing coincidences. First, observations suggest that there's a roughly comparable amount of regular and dark matter out there (tipped a bit toward dark matter, which is believed to outweigh conventional matter by a [factor of about five](<https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainsdark-matter>).) And second, neutrons and protons have [almost precisely the same mass](<https://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch6/atom_emrframe.html>), allowing them to form stable atoms — a fortuitous property, because otherwise our universe wouldn't be host to any of the lovely atoms that make up stuff like stars, planets, and ourselves.

Basically, the theory goes, maybe there's a shadow universe to our own in which neutrons and protons *don't* have that convenient symmetry in mass, meaning the whole thing is a sad soup of subatomic particles that don't interact much, explaining why dark matter doesn't seem to clump up much.

Important to note: the paper isn't yet peer reviewed, and it's just another theory among many jostling to crack the mysteries of dark matter, a galling and lingering unknown in our understanding of the universe. But it does have an impressive author list, with researchers ranging from Fermilab to the University of Chicago — so we'll be watching to see how it's received in the broader world of physics.

**More on dark matter:** [*China Opens Huge Underground Dark Matter Lab*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-opens-huge-underground-dark-matter-lab>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)