Dark Matter, which makes up most of the Universe, might not be entirely invisible after all. According to new research from the University of York, this mysterious substance could leave behind a faint red or blue tint on light as it passes through regions where Dark Matter is present, creating a detectable “fingerprint.”

Until now, scientists have believed that Dark Matter cannot interact with light and can only be observed through its gravitational influence, which shapes and stabilizes galaxies.

However, the York researchers suggest that light may actually change slightly in color depending on the kind of Dark Matter it encounters. If confirmed, this effect could provide a new method for exploring the hidden material that makes up the majority of the cosmos.

The theoretical study uses the idea of the “six handshake rule” – the notion that any two people on Earth are connected by just a few mutual acquaintances. They suggest a similar chain of connections might exist among particles.

The Particle Connection
Even if Dark Matter doesn’t interact directly with light, it might still influence it indirectly through other particles. For example, some Dark Matter candidates, known as Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) could connect to light via a series of intermediate particles such as the Higgs boson and the top quark.

Dr. Mikhail Bashkanov, from the University of York’s, School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, said: “It’s a fairly unusual question to ask in the scientific world, because most researchers would agree that Dark Matter is dark, but we have shown that even Dark Matter that is the darkest kind imaginable – it could still have a kind of color signature.

“It’s a fascinating idea, and what is even more exciting is that, under certain conditions, this ‘color’ might actually be detectable. With the right kind of next-generation telescopes, we could measure it. That means astronomy could tell us something completely new about the nature of Dark Matter, making the search for it much simpler.

Testing the Theory
The study outlines how these indirect particle interactions could be tested in future experiments, potentially allowing scientists to rule out some theories of Dark Matter while focusing on others, and so researchers argue that the new study could point to the importance of factoring these possibilities in future developments of telescopes.