Does Axionic Dark Matter Bind Galaxies Together?

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to:http://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Quantum mechanics is our best theory of the fundamental nature of reality, but it's usually only distinguishable from familiar classical mechanics on the smallest scales. However, there are some fringe cases where its distinct features manifest on scales we can observe—in things like superfluids, or the interiors of collapsed stars. But it’s also possible that our entire galaxy is filled with a reverberating quantum mechanical wave that literally holds the galaxy together—and in fact explains all the dark matter that we see across the universe. And this isn’t even a fringe theory. It’s axionic dark matter. Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/ Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Taha Dawoodbhoy & Matt O'Dowd Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, Adriano Leal & Stephanie Faria Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell Spacetime is produced by Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios. This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content. © 2023 PBS. All rights reserved. End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiDroideka Space Time Was Made Possible In Part By: Big Bang Supporters Bryce Fort Peter Barrett David Neumann Sean Maddox Alexander Tamas Morgan Hough Juan Benet Vinnie Falco Fabrice Eap Mark Rosenthal Quasar Supporters Vivaan Vaka Glenn Sugden Alex Kern Ethan Cohen Stephen Wilcox Christina Oegren Mark Heising Hypernova Supporters Stephen Spidle Chris Webb Ivari Tölp Zachary Wilson Kenneth See Gregory Forfa Kirk Honour Joe Moreira Bradley Voorhees Marc Armstrong Scott Gorlick Paul Stehr-Green Ben Delo Scott Gray Антон Кочков Robert Ilardi John R. Slavik Donal Botkin John Pollock Edmund Fokschaner chuck zegar Jordan Young Daniel Muzquiz Gamma Ray Burst Supporters Jakub Jasinski Robin Bayley Piotr Sarnicki Matthew Oldfield Massimiliano Pala Thomas Nielson Joe Pavlovic Ryan McGaughy Chuck Lukaszewski Edward Hodapp Cole B. Combs Andrea Galvagni Jerry Thomas Nikhil Sharma Ryan Moser John Anderson David Giltinan Scott Hannum Bradley Ulis Craig Falls Kane Holbrook Ross Story teng guo Mason Dillon Matt Langford Harsh Khandhadia Thomas Tarler Susan Albee Frank Walker Matt Quinn Michael Lev Terje Vold James Trimmier Andre Stechert Paul Wood Kent Durham Ramon Nogueira Paul Suchy Ellis Hall John H. Austin, Jr. Diana S Poljar Faraz Khan Almog Cohen Alex Edwards Daniel Jennings Cameron Sampson Jeremy Reed David Johnston Michael Barton Andrew Mann Isaac Suttell Bleys Goodson Robert Walter Mark Delagasse Mark Daniel Cohen Nickolas Andrew Freeman Shane Calimlim Tybie Fitzhugh Eric Kiebler Craig Stonaha Graydon Goss Frederic Simon Dmitri McGuiness John Robinson Jim Hudson Alex Gan David Barnholdt David Neal John Funai Bradley Jenkins Vlad Shipulin Cody Brumfield Thomas Dougherty King Zeckendorff Dan Warren Patrick Sutton John Griffith Dean Faulk