Almost all particles in the universe could posses a strange, donut-shaped electromagnetic field called an anapole, according to Vanderbilt University.
The study, conducted by Professor Robert Scherrer and post-doctoral fellow Chiu Man Ho, prescribe anapoles to dark matter.
Dark matter is an invisible form of matter that makes up about 85 percent of the matter in the universe.
The matter was first noticed in the 1930s, when scientists noticed there were "discrepancies in the rotational rate of galactic structures." Some stars orbiting far away from the center of galaxies are orbiting at a much quicker pace than can be explained with their detectable matter, scientists believe there must be some invisible type of matter in the galaxy.
Scientists previously believed dark matter contained Majorana fermions, a basic particle similar to the electron or the quark.
"There are a great many different theories about the nature of dark matter," Scherrer said. "What I like about this theory is its simplicity, uniqueness and the fact that it can be tested."
The Vanderbilt researchers think it's actually the unique magnetic fields that makes dark matter have different qualities from other types of matter with two poles and also renders them undetectable.
"Most models for dark matter assume that it interacts through exotic forces that we do not encounter in everyday life," Scherrer said. "Anapole dark matter makes use of ordinary electromagnetism that you learned about in school - the same force that makes magnets stick to your refrigerator or makes a balloon rubbed on your hair stick to the ceiling.
"Further, the model makes very specific predictions about the rate at which it should show up in the vast dark matter detectors that are buried underground all over the world. These predictions show that soon the existence of anapole dark matter should either be discovered or ruled out by these experiments," Scherrer said.
Scientists believe dark matter can't be detected through a telescope because it doesn't react with electromagnetic radiation, such as light. It's thought the matter carries no electric charge, instead they may have electric or magnetic dipoles.
"Although Majorana fermions are electrically neutral, fundamental symmetries of nature forbid them from acquiring any electromagnetic properties except the anapole," Ho said.
Particles that contain anapoles don't react with similar magnetic dipoles like most other matter does, they must be moving in order to interact and the faster they move the stronger the reaction.
The researchers believe that dark matter was much more active during the early days of the universe, and have drastically slowed down.
