Now that astronomers and astrophysicists have confirmed that gravitational waves exist, the race for the next big cosmic breakthrough is on, and based on what researchers said this weekend at a prominent scientific conference, it could well be the discovery of dark matter particles.
Speaking at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Washington DC on Saturday, Professor Alex Murphy of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Physics and Astronomy provided an update on the various international collaborations hunting for the material believe to comprise a significant portion of the universe’s mass.
Those researchers are using a combination of astronomy studies to determine the effect of dark matter on galaxies and light in deep space, and experiments underway deep below the surface of the Earth designed to detected it with minimal interference from other types of particles, Murphy explained.
One such experiment, currently underway at an underground facility located in South Dakota, is the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) detector. Recent upgrades at the facility have increased its chances of identifying the sub-atomic particles known as WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. These WIMPs are believed to be the primarily component of dark matter, he noted.
Detection of dark matter particles could come ‘very soon’
The discovery of dark matter would be as significant a development as the recent discovery of gravitational waves and the original detection of the Higgs boson by researchers at CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research), cosmologist Carlos Frenk told The Guardian on Sunday, and it would be a key advance in our understanding of the physical universe.
During his presentation, Murphy said that the LUX team had not yet detected WIMPs, but he added that the recent upgrades at the facility enables them to cool a vat filled with xenon to -150 degrees Fahrenheit in the hopes that they would be able to witness that atom collide with a dark matter particle, thus producing a tiny flash.
Thus far, such a collision has yet to happen, Murphy said. However, he called it “good news” in that “more regions have been ruled out,” referring to the various places where he and his fellow researchers have been searching for the elusive particles. “It’s entirely conceivable that we find a signal very, very soon,” he said. “But it’s also conceivable it’s going to take a long time.”
“It’s a bigger quest than just trying to find it,” the Edinburgh researcher said to The Guardian. “Once we see it that’s not the end of the road – it’s the key to unlocking what the deeper theory of physics is, and beyond the shadow of a doubt that’s going to be a long quest.”
The LUX team isn’t the only group currently working towards the detection of dark matter, the British publication pointed out. In Australia, work is underway on a dark matter detector that will be build underneath a gold mine (to limit interference and false-positives), and another detector has been mounted on the International Space Station to find indirect evidence of dark matter.
Results from these and other experiments are expected by early next year.
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Feature Image: Thinkstock
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