Overview
- University of Sheffield researchers report in Nature Astronomy that allowing dark matter–neutrino scattering brings early- and late-universe measurements into closer agreement on the S8 parameter.
- The team combined cosmic microwave background data from Planck and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope with DES Y3 cosmic shear and Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxy maps.
- Modeling shows a small interaction could damp the growth of structure, lowering predicted matter clustering to match present-day observations without conflicting with other constraints.
- The authors characterize the result as a suggestive but not definitive signal, with Tech Explorist reporting a nearly three-sigma hint when DES Y3 data are included.
- Future cosmic microwave background experiments and deeper weak-lensing surveys are proposed as decisive tests, with any confirmation guiding laboratory searches for dark matter properties.