Could Dark Matter be the result of "dead photons"?

Question

Perhaps the photon loses it's speed?

Answer 1

The only known instances of a photon losing speed is when it collides with an atom and raises the energy state of the atom, usually by boosting an electron into a higher-level orbit. The photon doesn't stop, it simply disappears. Some day we may understand how this happens.

We know practically nothing about dark matter. It's just a name for something which, if it exists and has certain properties, could account for some phenomena which we observe, but for which we have no (other) explanation.

Answer 2

No -- but keep thinking :)

Photons never lose speed or energy. That seems to be a widespread misconception about the "inverse square" rule for light. The only reason light (from a *point source*) intensity falls off by the inverse square law is that the same amount of light spreads out to cover more area -- it's geometry, not quantum physics. The only time photons "die" is when they collide with something, at which time they give up their energy to the thing they collide with. This is why CCD detectors work -- photons hit atoms in the CCD substrate, and give up their energy to be free electrons from the substrate and generate an electric current.

Answer 3

You will have a very difficult time convincing anyone that a photon can "die" since it isn't "alive" to begin with.
The other problem with your "theory" is that photons--being light--have no mass. That's why they are able to go the speed of light. You would next need to explain how the massless acquired mass.

Answer 4

lol...

I'm sorry, no it couldnt. Photons can't lose their speed - they have no rest mass - they always travel at the speed of light. They can lose energy, become less energetic photons, infrared, then microwave, then radio waves... but they have no rest mass (i say rest mass because of E=Mc2 which is about the mass/energy equivalence principle) so nope... not dark matter.