A reanalysis of 1000 of experiments in speck throttle valve worldwide has chance evidence for an unsung particle , one that does not fit in the Standard Model of subatomic particle physic . If confirm , that alone would be an immense find , but the physicists need go further . They surmise what they have found are “ dark-skinned photons ” , particles that interact with dark matter but can also partner off weakly with ordinary , familiar thing .
Sometimes it seems like physicist are watching entirely too much sci - fi for their own good . Dark photon fathom like something used to make the Darksaber from theStar WarsUniverse , a possibility not wholly dispelled when a project to seek them was calledPositron Annihilation into Dark Matter Experiment(PADME ) .
Cutesy acronym aside , however , there are plenty of reasons to suspect the particles physicists call dark photons be and represent the key fruit to understanding dark matter . photon are the carriers of the electromagnetic force , and gluon , W , Z , and Higgs bosons carry the other three known force . The hypothesis behind dark photons is that they are the carriers of a 5th , still unconfirmed , force play that interact with dark matter .
Professor Anthony Thomasof the University of Adelaide admitted to IFLScience the name is a little misleading . “ It started out when they were first pursued in the eighties and it was mean these atom were very like photons . Over time the idea has been generalized , ” Thomas said . It is now thought the molecule , still refer to as glum photons , have a lot of great deal , making them quite unlike photons at all , but the name has stick .
Thomas , his pupil Nicholas Hunt - Smith , and Centennial State - writer used the resultant from experiment where electron , muons , and at times other particles were smash into protons so intemperately the targets break down into their element quarks . The procedure is know as deep inelastic sprinkling . The observations afterward are more uniform with the presence of an unidentified molecule with a mass two to 10 times that of protons , than they are with only known particles , the team concludes .
Dark photon are far from the only particles outside the Standard Model that have been pop the question by physicists seeking to explicate anomalies in the existence in late decades . However , Thomas said in astatement : “ The being of benighted topic has been firmly established from its gravitative interactions , yet its precise nature proceed to skirt us despite the best efforts of physicist around the world . ”
Perhaps drawing inspiration from a unlike fictional universe , Thomas add : “ The key to understanding this mystery could dwell with the dark photon , a theoretical monolithic particle that may serve as a portal between the dark sector of particles and veritable thing . ” If his team has indeed found a new particle , Thomas thinks it jibe the eyeshade to be a dark photon .
Further probe is want to confirm what they are seeing is not a “ high order result ” consistent with the Standard Model , Thomas tell IFLScience . If alternatives can be ruled out , the pursuit will commence to contrive an experiment that provides more direct evidence for dark photons and reveals their nature .
Thomas told IFLScience he is “ not an experimentalist ” and does n’t eff what those experiments would be . “ Hopefully some of my colleagues can come up with something . ” Previous direct search have used collider that , Thomas says , are an order of order of magnitude lower in energy than what his team think they have found .
Finally , if all this succeeds , Thomas told IFLScience : “ If we are lucky [ the atom ] will couple with drab matter ” and can be used to line its presence , revealing its nature after all this time . ”
The subject field is issue in theJournal of High Energy Physics .
