The engine behind the 'God particle' is hunting for dark matter
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Ten years ago, a team operating the world’s largest particle impactor made history by discovering the Higgs boson particle, a key discovery for understanding the creation of the universe, earning it the nickname “God particle.”
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After a lag of more than three years for upgrades, the accelerator, run by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, is collecting data again. This time to prove the existence of another mysterious substance – dark matter.
Although most scientists believe dark matter is real, no one has been able to see it or create it. The data collection and power enhancements performed on the particle crusher, called the Large Hadron Collider, could provide researchers with one of their best opportunities to visualize and understand the substance.
“If we can figure out the properties of dark matter, we learn what our galaxy is made of,” said Joshua Ruderman, assistant professor of physics at New York University. “That would be transformative.”
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Dark matter has fascinated physicists for decades. It is widely believed to be an important part of the universe, and learning more about it can provide clues about how the universe formed.
All the stars, planets, and galaxies in the universe account for only 5% of the universe’s matter, according to scientists at CERN. About 27% of the universe is thought to be composed of dark matter, which does not absorb, reflect, or emit light, making it very difficult to detect. Researchers say it exists because they have seen its gravitational pull on objects – and have witnessed how it helps bend light.
Researchers hope the Large Hadron Collider can help. Collider was built over a decade by the European Organization for Nuclear Research to help answer the outstanding questions of particle physics. The machine is located approximately 328 feet underground in a tunnel near the Franco-Swiss border and the city of Geneva. Its circumference spans nearly 17 miles.
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Inside the collider, the superconducting magnets are cooled to about 456 degrees Fahrenheit – colder than space – while two beams of particles traveling near the speed of light are made to collide. Using state-of-the-art sensors and monitors, scientists analyzed the substance created by the collision, which mimicked conditions similar to the Big Bang. This allows them to learn about the early days of the universe.
The engine started working in September 2008 but has been shut down several times for refinement. Over the past three years, engineers have upgraded the collider so that it can detect more data and run at higher speeds. Now the accelerator can run at the highest energy level ever, 13.6 trillion electron volts, enabling scientists to run larger and more complex experiments that could yield new insights into particle physics.
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“This is a significant improvement,” said Mike Lamont, CERN’s director of accelerators and technology. “Pave the way for new discoveries.”
In the early universe, particles had no mass, so scientists have long questioned how stars, planets, and additional life were created. In 1964, physicists François Englert and Peter Higgs and others theorized that force fields give particles mass when they are connected, but they cannot document the existence of entities.
The discovery of the Higgs boson particle, part of the hypothesized force field, won Englert and Higgs the Nobel Prize in physics.
These particles have fascinated scientists and the general public. CERN and Collider are featured prominently in Dan Brown’s book and film adaptation “Angels & Demons.”
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But now researchers want to answer more vexing questions, particularly those around dark matter.
During the four-year experiment of the Large Hadron Collider, scientists hoped to find evidence of dark matter. When they started the engine, the protons would spin at almost the speed of light. The hope, the researchers say, is that when they collide, it creates new particles that mimic the properties of dark matter.
They also hope to learn more about how the Higgs boson particle behaves. On Tuesday, shortly after the masher began collecting data, scientists at CERN announced that they had discovered three new “exotic” particles that could provide clues as to how subatomic particles bind together.
“The high-energy collider remains the most powerful microscope we have for exploring nature at the smallest scales and for discovering the fundamental laws that govern the universe,” said Gian Giudice, head of CERN’s theory department.
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Ruderman, of New York University, said that CERN’s quest to study dark matter and explain the origin of the universe had him eagerly awaiting the results of the experiment. This research really excited him. “That’s why I wake up in the morning,” he said.
Once the data starts to come out of the experiment, Ruderman will see if it generates new particles. Even if it did, it would be difficult to immediately tell whether it was dark matter or not.
First, they needed to assess whether the particle emitted light. If so, then it’s likely dark matter. Second, the particle must show signs of being around for a long time and not decay right away, because dark matter should theoretically last billions of years. They also expect the particles to behave similar to the current theory of dark matter.
Ruderman said it took more than four years to make the discovery.
If CERN scientists don’t find dark matter in the next four years, they have more work to do. The upgrade will likely take three years after the current process stops, so a fourth round of data collection and experimentation will begin in 2029.
As planned, the trial was able to capture 10 times more data than the previous experiment, according to the CERN website. But uncovering the secrets of the universe is not easy.
“This is difficult,” said Ruderman, “and something that could take a lifetime of exploration.”
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