Half an hour outside of Rome , a advanced newfangled experiment will strain to answer one of the profound questions about the nature of reality . Does a fifth fundamental force survive in the universe ? This force is connected to dark matter and dark energy , the ( hypothetical ) principal components of the universe , and it would be carry by a pocket-size particle called the dark photon .
Just like photons run electromagnetic irradiation , dark photon would carry the 5th forcefulness and interact with obscure matter . But unlike photons , they would have a small multitude . The mystifying dark photon will be hunted by thePositron Annihilation into Dark Matter Experiment(PADME ) , which will start collect data in the next couple of weeks .
PADME will practice antimatter to test to locate the glowering photon . A beam of positrons , or anti - electrons , will be shot at an artificial diamond wafer , 100 microns heavyset . They will interact with regular matter and release photons , but researcher think there is a chance they might emit dark photons too . Sophisticated detectors are there to consider the regular photons in detail . Their properties will separate researchers if dark photons survive and , if they do , what they are like .
The experiment is an external collaborationism and includes the Magyar research group that first observedhints of a singular Modern particle , around 30 time the size of it of an electron . That experimentation was behave using unstable atoms of beryllium , which give out positrons and electrons when it crumble . The experimentation saw an anomalousness in the datum that was consistent with an unknown molecule . theoretic depth psychology suggested it could have been the coloured photon .
While intelligibly exciting , we ca n’t be certain what the particle is , or if it ’s even there at all . That ’s PADME ’s problem . It will attempt to corroborate or refute these finding . No matter the results it will advance our understanding of dark subject . However , if it does corroborate the beingness of the dark photon , it will be radical .
“ The cogitation of dark matter is one of the most fascinating frontiers of inquiry in fundamental physics , " interpreter Mauro Raggi , from the Sapienza University of Rome , tell in astatement . " We do not know what it is made of but we know it is made up of something different from the mote that make up average matter like protons , neutrons or electron . ”
glum topic and moody energy are purpose explanations for how the structures in the universe move and how the existence itself expound . All we see points strongly to their existence , but we are yet to find unmediated evidence . PADME could give us just that .
