Message boards : LHC@home Science : Dark matter hunt yields unexplained signal
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Jim1348

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Message 42893 - Posted: 18 Jun 2020, 12:35:43 UTC

An experiment searching for signs of elusive dark matter has detected an unexplained signal.
Scientists working on the Xenon1T experiment have detected more activity within their detector than they would otherwise expect.
This "excess of events" could point to the existence of a previously undetected dark matter particle called an axion.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53085260

Could the LHC create this particle?
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Message 42899 - Posted: 21 Jun 2020, 8:12:14 UTC - in response to Message 42897.  

Thank you. I know it will take some time to verify, but I am sure CERN is excited about the possibility.
I hope we get a chance to contribute to the work.
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Message 42902 - Posted: 22 Jun 2020, 15:43:37 UTC

“I’m trying to be calm here, but it’s hard not to be hyperbolic,” said Neal Weiner, a particle theorist at New York University. “If this is real, calling it a game changer would be an understatement.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/science/xenon-axions-neutrinos-tritium.html

I hope you can read this without a subscription; I think they alllow some free access.
I know nothing about the physics, so it needs to be explained to me.
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Message 42904 - Posted: 22 Jun 2020, 20:08:30 UTC - in response to Message 42902.  

They let me read it (without ads and the rest)

It looks like a "maybe" right now looking for "WIMPS" (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles"

Hypothetical particles which may be the main (or only) component of Dark Matter, a form of matter which emits and absorbs no light and which comprises approx 75% of all mass in the observable universe.

And over where I am we have the Axion Dark Matter Experiment at the University of Washington, which uses a strong magnetic field to detect the axions by watching them turn into microwaves.

They have been saying the last few years that they can't find any WIMPs and MACHOs

One good thing is all you need to do is look things up and read about it and you will understand all of that if you have the time Jim.
https://tinyurl.com/WIMPS-and-MACHOS
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Message 42906 - Posted: 22 Jun 2020, 21:31:17 UTC - in response to Message 42904.  
Last modified: 22 Jun 2020, 21:39:48 UTC

Good. They point out that CERN has its own experiment, though it is not with the LHC.
https://home.cern/science/experiments/cast

One problem I suppose is that they don't know what the mass is, or even if it is in the range of the LHC. That would make it quite a hunt.
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Message boards : LHC@home Science : Dark matter hunt yields unexplained signal


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