weakly interacting massive particle

English

Noun

weakly interacting massive particle (plural weakly interacting massive particles)

1. (astronomy, physics) A hypothetical class of particle, proposed to explain the dark matter problem.

Usage notes

There are two definitions for WIMPs, one where "weakly interacting" signifies weak nuclear force, a fundamental force of nature, and the other where "weakly interacting" signifies low strength interaction with normal matter such as only interacting through gravitational force.

Synonyms

• WIMP (abbreviation)

Hypernyms

• dark matter

Coordinate terms

• strongly interacting massive particle (SIMP)
• robust associations of massive baryonic objects (RAMBO)
• massive compact halo object (MACHO)

Derived terms

• WIMP (abbreviation)
• WIMPzilla

Translations

hypothetical class of particle

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大質量弱相互作用粒子／大质量弱相互作用粒子 (dà zhìliàng ruò xiānghù zuòyòng lìzǐ)

• Finnish: wimp (fi)