This could be historical : uranologist from Leicester University have notice a foreign signal in the X - ray of light spectrum that is likely a key signature of ‘ axions ’ — a hypothetical dark matter particle . It could take years to confirm , but this may be the first direct detection and designation of saturnine subject .
The written report has the potential to importantly advance our savvy of benighted matter and the way our Universe works . Though it has never observe directly , uranologist are sure dark matter existsbecause , without it , galaxies would just ravel and fly apart . Moreover , even though it does n’t emit or suck up visible radiation , it exerts gravitational pull out on celestial objects we can honor . To put it bluntly , it ’s dark issue that holds the Universe together — and it may make up up to 85 % of all the poppycock within it .
https://gizmodo.com/ask-a-physicist-why-believe-in-dark-matter-5528758
The melodic theme of axions has been around for a while . It was take by the Peccei - Quinn theory in 1977 to answer anasty trouble in quantum physics . Only later did physicists realize that it was a viable candidate for the cold dark matter implied to subsist by astronomical observance . According to theory , axions are capable to ‘ feel ’ electromagnetic interaction despite not carrying an electromagnetic charge . This would incriminate that , should an axion come into striking with a magnetic field , it could convert into photons — which is something we can discover . What ’s more , if they do indeed subsist , they ’re expected to be produced in the core of the Sun .
relate : alternate morose matter corpuscle could excuse the universe ’s Li shortage|Who needs particle accelerators when you’re able to just use pitch-black holes ?
https://gizmodo.com/alternative-dark-matter-particle-could-explain-the-univ-5887714
https://gizmodo.com/who-needs-particle-accelerators-when-you-can-just-use-b-5919252
No Conventional Explanations Available
Sadly , the booster cable author of the new subject , George Fraser , passed away in March — one day after his squad relegate it to the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society .
The likely find of axions was found through an exhaustive field of much the total archive collected by the ESA ’s X - shaft observatory , XMM - Newton . That ’s 14 years of X - ray observations ! In particular , the scientist were looking at data where there appeared to be an unexpected seasonal modulation in the X - ray flux — modulation consistent with the spiritual rebirth of axions churned - out by the Sun into X - ray photons as they pass through the Earth ’s magnetic field . To day of the month , other hunts for the elusive simple particle have fall up nil , including those conducted at CERN and by other spacecraft .
Normally , the disco biscuit - beam of light background — the sky after galaxies , star topology , and other brilliant X - ray seed have been filter out — seem to be unaltered when it ’s keep .
“ However , we have discovered a seasonal signal in this X - irradiation background , which has no conventional account , but is consistent with the find of axions , ” noted study co - writer Andy Read in astatement . give the shortage of explanations , the researchers turn to more radical hypothesis , including the suggestion that axions — the theoretical particles of blue affair — are streaming from the substance of the Sun and producing hug drug - rays when they smash into the Earth ’s magnetic field .
harmonize to the researchers , it ’s potential that axions are produce in the core of the Sun and that they exchange to X - beam of light in the magnetised field of operations of the Earth . It has been suggested that the X - ray signal due to axions will be at its great when observered through the sunward side of the magnetized field — the position where the field is strongest . The research worker noticed that the intensity of hug drug - rays uprise by about 10 % whenever the space vehicle assess the bounds of Earth ’s magnetic field that front towards the Sun .
If these particles are indeed axions , then they must be incredibly abstemious , boast a mass of around a hundred one-billionth of an electron .
“ These exciting discovery , in George ’s final newspaper , could be truly ground breakage , potentially opening a window to new physics , and could have Brobdingnagian implication , not only for our sympathy of the true go - beam sky , but also for key the dreary matter that dominates the mass content of the cosmos , ” added Read .
Tentative Findings
No doubt , if reassert — and that ’s a bragging if — it would represent the first direct detection and identification of dark topic particle . The researchers admit that the findings are probationary , and that it could take years to confirm . Indeed , given the late BICEP2 fiasco , it ’s likely a good thought to entertain back on sure - flaming proclamations .
https://gizmodo.com/evidence-for-the-big-bang-theory-may-have-just-been-dus-1637576980
What ’s more , and asnotedby physicist Christian Beck in the Guardian , it ’s not entirely unmortgaged that other explanations of the metrical effect can be excluded .
“ A true discovery of dark subject that is convincing for most scientists would require consistent results from several different experiments using different detection method acting , in addition to what has been observed by the Leicester radical , ” he is quoted as saying .
The Leicester stargazer are hoping they can double the dataset from XMM - Newton in a few years to help support the result .
But if try out correct , the discovery is poise to make a key shock on our theories of the Universe .
Read the entire study at the arXiv pre - print archive : “ likely solar axion signatures in X - ray observations with the XMM - Newton lookout “ . The study is set to seem in an coming edition of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . Additional information viaGuardian .
AstronomyDark matterParticle physicsScience
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