Scientists propose a new type of dark matter and how we can find it

Dark matter is an enigmatic beast. We can not see it, but we know it is the bulk of our universe. The discovery of the mysterious particle (or particles) of exotic matter has made scientists intrigued and intrigued for decades.

At the Planck 2019 conference on June 6, at an international meeting devoted to research in exploratory physics, John Terning and Christopher Verhaaren, theoretical physicists from the University of California at Davis, presented a new theory on what constitutes dark matter and how to detect it. A pre-print document of their study was loaded into the arXiv directory on May 31st.

Dark matter and dark energy, two theoretical forms of matter, represent more than 85% of the known universe. When we look in space, evidence of the existence of dark matter is abundant – we can see its effect on the gravity and expansion of the universe. We know Something, an invisible particle that may be hidden and responsible for the functioning of our universe.

Scientists have long struggled to find the elusive and exotic particle that makes up dark matter, and more and more theories abound every year. In December, an Oxford scientist proposed that the the universe was made up of a dark fluid. Others have suggested searching for dark matter in innovative ways. We still have not been able to detect it.

Which brings us to the idea of ​​Terning and Verhaaren. They argue for a new "type" of dark matter and a way to detect it, a punch of the theory and an experimental validation. However, the authors of the study warned that the audit could take some time.

The new type of dark matter is different from previous theories, which suggest that invisible and exotic particles could be composed of interacting massive particles, or WIMP. No experience has been able to find these particles, although scientists have built large armored laboratories that hope to reveal them.

"We still do not know what dark matter is," Terning said in a press release. "The main candidate for a long time was the WIMP, but it seems to be almost totally excluded."

The researchers examined an opposite theory of dark matter under an equally fantastic name: "dark electromagnetism". There is a subatomic particle called a black photon that sometimes interacts with regular photons that we can already detect. The duo added their own idea to the idea by showing that dark matter could be caused by "dark monopolies", based on quantum theory.

Everything is confusing here, especially for us mere mortals struggling with daily physics. The bottom line? We have a new theory that proposes that the "dark monopole" can be detected in an experiment through its interactions with regular photons and the Aharonov-Bohm effect, which at been proven experimentally.

However, the observable effect would be incredibly low – even smaller than the gravitational waves – and we still do not have the technology to detect such meticulous signals yet. Alan Duffy, researcher on black matter at Swinburne University in Australia, explains how the first gravitational wave detection (a theory until then very recent) required "a century of scientific and research efforts. heroic engineering ", suggesting that this could be" a concern for testability ". of [new] prediction."

Where does this leave the theory of Terning and Verhaaren? Well, in theory, of course. But that's where all good science begins.