Illuminating dark matter I: A guide for physics teachers

TL;DR

This paper provides an accessible overview of dark matter tailored for physics teachers, explaining its nature, significance, and the challenges in teaching this complex subject to students.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive, up-to-date introduction to dark matter specifically designed for physics teachers and educators in training.

Findings

Clarifies the concept and importance of dark matter.

Provides teaching strategies for complex astrophysical topics.

Highlights current scientific understanding and challenges.

Abstract

One of the great mysteries of contemporary science is dark matter, an exotic substance of unknown nature that, in theory, makes up about 27\% of the total mass-energy density of the universe, and which does not appear to emit, absorb, or reflect any kind of light, meaning that it is invisible and can only be detected through its gravitational effects on objects around it. Dark matter is a frontier topic, involving highly complex subjects that usually exceed the training of a physics teacher. Given this difficulty, the aim of this paper is to shed some light on dark matter, and to offer a broad, up-to-date introduction that is mainly directed at physics teachers in training and in practice. Due to the breadth of the subject, the article has been divided into two parts. In Part I, we deal with general concepts, which serve as an introduction to the more specific topics analysed in Part II.