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June 17, 2020
Scientists at the University of Zurich made an unexpected discovery by analyzing data from the world's most sensitive dark matter detector. A new particle could be at the origin of it.
Image above: The Xenon1T dark matter detector is the most sensitive in the world. Image Credit: UZH.
By analyzing data from the Xenon1T dark matter detector installed at the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso (I) until the end of 2018, researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH) came across unexpected signals.
This detector, the most sensitive in the world, certainly did not detect dark matter, but out of a total of 232 events involving known particles, the researchers found an excess of 53 unexpected signals of unknown origin.
The 163 scientists from 28 institutions in 11 countries working on the XENON collaboration have not yet managed to explain this phenomenon, UZH said in a statement on Wednesday.
Existence of a new particle?
Among the hypotheses retained is the existence of a new particle. The energy spectrum measured resembles that attributed to axions, hypothetical particles which could have been a source of dark matter at the beginning of the universe, explains Laura Baudis, responsible for this work at the UZH, quoted in the press release.
Image above: 1/n We saw an excess of events in the energy region 1-7 keV in XENON1T data. There are 285 electronic recoil events observed, with 232 + -15 expected from the background. Extensive checks allowed us to exclude backgrounds from known particles and systematic effects as the source. Image Credits: UZH / Laura Baudis.
Another explanation could be an unknown property of neutrinos going beyond the standard model of physics. The answer may come from the new, more sensitive XENONnT detector, currently being installed and which should start operating at the end of the year, concludes the UZH.
University of Zurich (UZH): https://www.uzh.ch/en.html
laboratory of Gran Sasso (LNGS): https://www.lngs.infn.it/en
Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: ATS/UZH/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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