<p>I don't see any reason why dark matter couldn't be considered a medium just as air or water are, but this does not mean that your conclusion is correct.</p>

<p>Dark matter does not interact with photons, however the reason we know dark matter exists is because of the measurable effect of its gravity.  Galaxies have a tendency to clump around it.</p>

<p>Light travels unimpeded at its standard rate between galaxies where we don't detect any dark matter, so interesting question though it is, I'm afraid the answer is no.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-14T16:27:58.333Z
2014-10-14T16:27:58.333Z
IchabodE
<p>Long ago, it was theorized that light had to travel through a medium, until the particle/wave duality of light was discovered.  Then it changed to the idea that light can travel through the vacuum of space as a particle.  </p>

<p>Light travels at different speeds depending on the medium that the light is traveling through.  It travels slower in water than it does through air.  </p>

<p>However, is there any possibility that dark matter is a medium that light travels through?  Could it be conceivable that what we recognize as light speed is really just the speed at which light travels through this medium?  If we were to remove dark matter, would light go faster?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-13T03:18:55.937Z
I may be able to add my concept on this without being chastised as pushing a barrow. Consider there are particles of mass approx 1E-78 kg which are the initial building blocks of everything and after reaction temperatures fell to our present state these particle were left over and formed an "ether" of perfect gas particles. these need to perhaps be dipoles in nature to be the medium for e.m. radiation. They vary density throughout the universe, and I suggest a black hole may be recycling matter from matter to original particle and that particle is able to escape/evaporate the hole.
Bryan Major
<light><dark-matter>
Could dark matter be considered a medium?
Scottie
# Could dark matter be considered a medium?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-14)

Long ago, it was theorized that light had to travel through a medium, until the particle/wave duality of light was discovered. Then it changed to the idea that light can travel through the vacuum of space as a particle.

Light travels at different speeds depending on the medium that the light is traveling through. It travels slower in water than it does through air.

However, is there any possibility that dark matter is a medium that light travels through? Could it be conceivable that what we recognize as light speed is really just the speed at which light travels through this medium? If we were to remove dark matter, would light go faster?

**Tags:** light, dark-matter

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I may be able to add my concept on this without being chastised as pushing a barrow. Consider there are particles of mass approx 1E-78 kg which are the initial building blocks of everything and after reaction temperatures fell to our present state these particle were left over and formed an "ether" of perfect gas particles. these need to perhaps be dipoles in nature to be the medium for e.m. radiation. They vary density throughout the universe, and I suggest a black hole may be recycling matter from matter to original particle and that particle is able to escape/evaporate the hole.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-10-14. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

I don't see any reason why dark matter couldn't be considered a medium just as air or water are, but this does not mean that your conclusion is correct.

Dark matter does not interact with photons, however the reason we know dark matter exists is because of the measurable effect of its gravity. Galaxies have a tendency to clump around it.

Light travels unimpeded at its standard rate between galaxies where we don't detect any dark matter, so interesting question though it is, I'm afraid the answer is no.


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