What atomic clocks on Earth reveal about dark matter

One of the great mysteries of the universe is that dark matter. It is estimated that they do 85 percent from our world. However, we do not know what this invisible cosmic component is.

Scientists around the world are looking for answers. researchers from University of Sussex Now use a known tool: a regular tool atomic clock. And they use the beats of these particularly delicate instruments to search for previously unknown things light particles Search. These particles could be associated with dark matter.

The great secret of nature

Dark matter is practically invisible. It does not interact with light like normal matter. However, their presence can be determined by them effects on gravity extraction

“One of the biggest mysteries is the nature of dark matter. We know it exists, we see its effects in our universe, but we don’t have a valid explanation in the Standard Model of particle physics,” he explains. xavier Calmette, Project leader and Professor of Physics at the University of Sussex, opposite Space.com. “It must be one New physics exist, but we don’t know how to describe these new particles.”

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The atomic clock for the discovery of “new physics”.

Calmette shows that if dark matter is composed of very light new particles, it will only interact very weakly with ordinary matter. “If this is the case, dark matter will behave essentially like a classical wave.” This wave would push the other particles down.

These collisions between small particles can, in turn, lead to a temporal change in the fundamental constants of the universe. For example The alpha microstructure is stableWhich indicates the strength of the electromagnetic interaction.

And here it comes The atomic clock as a measuring instrument in the game. “Because atomic clocks are such amazingly precise devices, they can detect these pulses and therefore very light dark matter,” Calmette explains. “By comparing two clocks, one sensitive to changes in alpha and the other less sensitive, we can get a limit on how this fundamental constant changes over time, and thus better describe light particles.”

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The new theoretical framework

The clocks have not yet discovered any “new physics”. However, researchers around Calmette hope to find a new one Theoretical framework To develop that would make this possible in the future.

The scientists recently published their findings in New Journal of Physics published.