Scientists have begun the search for "dark forces" of the universe

Identifying new invisible forces will help to understand the essence of how the cosmos works.

Scientists are launching an ambitious quest for so-called "dark forces" of nature, which can open up to humanity the gateway to the sphere of the universe, in the shelter of human perception. In fact, the research aims to identify a new fundamental force that is a bridge between the ordinary matter of the world around us and the hidden "dark sector" that includes much of the space.

The chances of success are very low. But if we manage to detect such a force, it will be one of the most important and important discoveries in the history of physics. The publication writes that today the most complete physical theory of reality explains only 4% of the Universe that people can see. All the rest is dark matter – an amazing material around galaxies – and dark energy even more mysterious – a substance designed to explain why endless space is continually growing.

"At the moment, we do not know what makes up 90% of the Universe," said Rome University's Sapienza Mauro Raggi. "If we find this strength, this brand will change the whole paradigm we have today. It will open a new world and help us understand the particles and forces that make up the dark sector, "he added.

Today, physicists know four fundamental natural forces. The electromagnetic force allows you to see and make phone calls, which does not allow us to fall through the chair. Without the so-called strong interactions, the components of the atomic particles simply collapsed. The weak interaction acts in the field of radioactivity and gravity is the most capricious of natural forces, which allows us to keep our feet firmly on the ground.

But there are probably other natural forces that still remain unnoticed. They form the behavior of particles unknown to date, composed of dark matter and significantly affecting all the forces that man has better known. This month, Ruggie and his colleagues will launch a specific scientific instrument from the National Institute of Nuclear Physics near Rome, which will aim to identify a fifth natural force. The machine is called Padme. She will capture what happens with the diamond plate with a thickness of one-tenth of a millimeter, a flow of dark matter particles called positrons.

When the positrons collide with the diamond plate, they immediately melt with the electrons and disappear, highlighting the small amount of energy. Under normal conditions, the energy released would be in the form of two light particles, called photons. But if the fifth force of nature exists, there will be something else. At the appearance of two visible photons, the collision will result in the appearance of a single particle, called "black photon".

This hypothetical elementary particle – the equivalent of light particles in the dark sector of the Universe. It carries the equivalent of a bolt of dark electromagnetic force. Unlike normal light particles, their dark counterparts, produced in Padme, will remain invisible to the tools. But by comparing the energy and direction of positron flow with the results of the experiment, scientists will be able to say for sure if the dark particle and what was its mass. After all, if normal photons do not have mass, their hypothetical counterparts of darkness – on the contrary. Padme will capture particles whose mass is 50 times that of electrons.

Dark photons, if they exist, can have an imperceptible impact on the world we see. Knowing their weight and the type of particles that they disintegrate, humanity will have a glimpse of the fundamentals of the universe outside of our perception.