Laser Experiment Could Expose Particles Responsible for Dark Matter

Long tubes, beardown magnets, and agleam lasers. Is that each it takes to entice nan shyest particles successful nan beingness to uncover themselves?

Physicists moving connected nan ALPS II research surely dream so, arsenic they kicked disconnected their hunt for axionic (or axion-like) acheronian matter connected Tuesday, May 23. ALPS (Any Light Particle Search) is simply a 820-foot research astatine nan Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, aliases DESY.

ALPS II is looking for simple particles that person arsenic of yet eluded quality observation. These particles are thought to beryllium responsible for alleged acheronian matter, nan catch-all word for nan 27% of worldly successful nan universe that has not been straight observed, but whose beingness is seen successful acheronian matter haloes and gravitational lensing.

On ample scales, nan fingerprints of acheronian matter are clear, but to place what specifically comprises nan chartless stuff, physicists person to look astatine immoderate of nan smallest scales.

There are respective superior candidates for acheronian matter, but nan 2 frontrunners are Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) and axions. Axions are named for a laundry detergent and are smaller than WIMPs. In fact, they’re theorized to beryllium truthful mini that they behave much for illustration waves than particles, akin to photons of ray (another acheronian matter candidate, acheronian photons, are thought to enactment similarly, hence its name).

One spot of axions is that they whitethorn popular successful and retired of existence—perhaps moreover from mean photons. The ALPS II research is designed to observe particles for illustration axions by taking measurements of these imaginable changes, from photons to axions and backmost again. The magnets successful nan experiment, which are utilized to create a magnetic section to big this photon-to-axion transformation, were taken from nan since-retired HERA accelerator astatine DESY.

ALPS II is separated into 2 parts by a wall that ray cannot walk through, but an axion could. If ray shows up connected nan acold broadside of nan experiment, it would bespeak to scientists that a photon turned into an axion, transitted nan wall, and reverted to a photon.

“Despite each our method tricks, nan probability of a photon turning into an axion and backmost again is very small,” said Axel Lindner, task leader astatine DESY and spokesperson of nan ALPS collaboration, successful a DESY release. The odds, Lindner added, are “like throwing 33 dice and them each coming up nan same.”

The research will statesman its hunt successful an “attenuated operating mode,” according to nan release, to make it easier to discern inheritance ray that could springiness mendacious positives for axionic acheronian matter. ALPS II is expected to scope afloat sensitivity later this twelvemonth and will person its reflector strategy upgraded adjacent year. The first information from nan research is expected successful 2024.

“Even if we don’t find immoderate ray particles pinch ALPS, nan research will displacement nan removal limits for ultra-light particles by a facet of 1000,” Lindner said. That’ll beryllium a large step, arsenic nan axion hunt frankincense acold has been a laborious process of homing successful connected nan apt wide scope for nan theorized particles.

ALPS II will subordinate forces pinch different behemoth acheronian matter detectors for illustration LUX-ZEPLIN successful South Dakota and XENON1T nether nan Apennine Mountains successful sniffing retired nan elusive physics that undergird nan universe.

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