Dark affair is a conjectural sort of matter believed to be everywhere , outnumbering regular matter ( what we ’re made of ) 5 - to-1 . It does n’t emit or interact with luminousness , so it is invisible to our instruments – that ’s why we call it dark . We know that it ought to be there because observations of the universe match our models only if there is a flock more matter out there . Still , it is difficult to find .
There are a few possibility when it comes to the nature of dark matter . It could be made of particles foretell weakly interact monolithic particles ( WIMPs ) , much wakeless than a proton , that could be observe by the occasional collision with atom . Or it could made of axions , particle that are so light that they weigh just a fraction of an electron .
Many lab are sample to enamour wimp with consecrated detectors . Catching axions is a luck more difficult , but an external squad has worked out an approach . Everything is both a wave and a particle ( yes , technically even you ) , but the lighter something is , the light one can see the wave - like nature . So the team behind a late paper used lasers and two nuclear clocks to measure the possible essence of the axions .
“ Despite many possibility and experiment scientist are yet to find dark-skinned subject , which we think of as the ‘ gum ’ of the galaxy halt everything together , ” co - lead researcher Ashlee Caddell , from the University of Queensland , said in astatement .
“ Our cogitation used a different approach – analyse the data point from a meshwork of radical - stable laser connect by fibre optic cables , as well as from two atomic redstem storksbill aboard GPS satellites . Dark matter in this case dissemble like a wave , because its mass is very very blue . We habituate the assort clocks to endeavor to valuate changes in the wave , which would look like clocks displaying unlike times or ticking at different rate , and this upshot gets stronger if the clocks are further apart . ”
The method provides the first restraint on how certain dark matter might interact with regular matter
“ By comparing precision measurements across vast distances , we identified the subtle effect of oscillating dark matter field that would otherwise invalidate themselves out in conventional setups , ” Caddell added . “ Excitingly , we were able to search for sign from dark matter exemplar that interact universally with all particle , something that has circumvent traditional experiment . ”
There has been some circumstantial evidence from gravitational lensing , suggest that axionsare a good fit for dark affair . This method allows researchers to actually explore that image of masse .
“ Scientists will now be able to enquire a spacious reach of dark subject scenario , and perhaps answer some fundamental questions about the fabric of the population , ” study carbon monoxide gas - source Dr Benjamin Roberts said .
“ This work also highlight the office of international collaboration and cutting - edge engineering , using [ Physikalisch - Technische Bundesanstalt ] ’s state - of - the - graphics nuclear alfilaria and [ University of Queensland ] ’s expertise in combining preciseness measure and fundamental physics . ”
The paper is published inPhysical Review Letters .
