Fritz Zwicky

"The Dark Matter Rap"

My name is Fritz Zwicky

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I can be kind of prickly,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This song had better start

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

by giving me priority

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Whatever anybody says,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I said in 1933

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Observe the Coma cluster,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

the redshift of the galaxies

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

imply some big velocities.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They're moving so fast,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

there must be missing mass!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dark matter.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For nearly forty years,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

the matter problem sits.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nobody gets worried 'cause,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"It's only crazy Fritz."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next step's not 'til

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

the early nineteen seventies,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ostriker and Peeples,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

dynamics of the galaxies,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

cold disk instabilities.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They say: "If the mass

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

were sitting in the stars,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

all those pretty spirals

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ought to be bars!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Self-gravitating disks? Uh-uh, oh no.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

What those spirals need is a massive halo.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And hey, look over here, check out these observations,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vera Rubin's optical curves of rotation,

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

they can provide our needed confirmation:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Those curves aren't falling, they're FLAT!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dark matter's where it's AT!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And so the call goes out for the dark matter candidates:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

black holes, snowballs, gas clouds, low mass stars, or planets.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But we quickly hit a snag because galaxy formation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

requires too much structure in the background radiation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

if there's only baryons and adiabatic fluctuations.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Russians have an answer: "Wr can solve the impasse.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lyubimov has shown that the neutrino has mass."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Zeldovich cries, "Pancakes! The dark matter's HOT."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Carlos Frenk, Simon White, Marc Davis say, "NOT!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Quasars are old, and the pancakes must be young.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Forming from the top down it can't be done."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So neutrinos hit the skids, and the picture's looking black.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But California laid-back Blumenthal & Primack

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

say, "Don't have a heart attack.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There's lots of other particles

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Just read the physics articles."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Who's right? It's hard to know, 'til observation or experiment

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

gives overwhelming evidence that relieves our predicament.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The search is getting popular as many realize

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

that the detector of dark matter may well win the Nobel Prize.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"The Dark Matter Rap"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

-David Weinberg

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Featured in Timothy Ferris' The Whole Shebang

Related Topics:
Timothy Ferris - The Whole Shebang

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~