Dark matter might not be tiny particles after all—it could be big 'nuggets' of matter and antimatter.
arXiv · March 17, 2026 · 2603.15585
The Takeaway
Instead of a diffuse gas of invisible particles, this theory suggests dark matter is composed of dense clumps of quarks and antiquarks held together by 'axion walls.' This single idea could solve two mysteries at once: explaining what dark matter is and why there is so much more matter than antimatter in the universe.
From the abstract
The nature of dark energy remains a central problem in cosmology. A compelling possibility is that dark matter is macroscopic, consisting of composite objects formed in the early Universe. We introduce the QCD-AQN framework, a well-motivated scenario in which dark matter is composed of dense aggregates of quarks and antiquarks matter stabilised by axion domain walls. The framework proposes a unified explanation for both dark matter and the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry. Particular emphasi