科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)了尋找暗物質(zhì)的新方法

科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)了尋找暗物質(zhì)的新方法

Dark matter is famously supposed to take up 27% of the existing mass-energy of the universe. Dark energy eats up another 68%, while ordinary matter and energy that includes us accounts for just about 5%, scientists estimate. But if so much of everything is taken up by dark matter and dark energy, where are they? Neither has been conclusively detected, but a new study proposes a fresh way to spot dark matter signatures, looking in data we already gathered.

眾所周知，暗物質(zhì)占據(jù)了宇宙現(xiàn)有質(zhì)量能量的27%?？茖W(xué)家們估計(jì)，暗能量又吞噬了68%，而包括我們在內(nèi)的普通物質(zhì)和能量只占5%。但是如果所有的東西都被暗物質(zhì)和暗能量占據(jù)了那么多，那么它們在哪里呢?這兩種方法都沒有被最終檢測到，但是一項(xiàng)新的研究提出了一種新的方法來發(fā)現(xiàn)暗物質(zhì)的特征，從我們已經(jīng)收集的數(shù)據(jù)中尋找。

The study, led by researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley, found that it may be possible to detect dark matter signals during scattering. This process occurs when dark matter particles collide with atomic nuclei, producing small flashes of light and other potentially noticeable indicators. The scientists think they can pinpoint such moments and capture dark matter by looking for ejected electrons, neutrinos or other signs.

這項(xiàng)由勞倫斯伯克利國家實(shí)驗(yàn)室和加州大學(xué)伯克利分校的研究人員領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在散射過程中可能探測到暗物質(zhì)信號(hào)。當(dāng)暗物質(zhì)粒子與原子核發(fā)生碰撞，產(chǎn)生微弱的閃光和其他潛在的明顯跡象時(shí)，這個(gè)過程就會(huì)發(fā)生?？茖W(xué)家們認(rèn)為，他們可以通過尋找噴射出的電子、中微子或其他跡象，精確定位這些時(shí)刻并捕捉暗物質(zhì)。

The study suggests that some currently existing experiments can be adapted to search for these kind of signals that relate to how the dark matter energy is absorbed.

這項(xiàng)研究表明，一些現(xiàn)有的實(shí)驗(yàn)可以用來尋找這些與暗物質(zhì)能量如何被吸收有關(guān)的信號(hào)。

The scientists also propose they can look through particle detector data that's already been gathered to find dark matter characteristics.

科學(xué)家們還提出，他們可以通過已經(jīng)收集的粒子探測器數(shù)據(jù)來尋找暗物質(zhì)的特征。

The study's lead author, postdoctoral researcher Jeff Dror from Berkeley Lab's Theory Group and UC Berkeley's Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, explained that "You can make a huge amount of progress with very little cost if you step back a little bit in the way we've been thinking about dark matter."

這項(xiàng)研究的主要作者、伯克利實(shí)驗(yàn)室理論小組和加州大學(xué)伯克利分校伯克利理論物理中心的博士后研究員杰夫·德羅解釋說，“如果你按照我們一直思考暗物質(zhì)的方式退一步，可以用很少的成本取得巨大的進(jìn)步。”

The researchers hope their approach can lead to new avenues in the search for the elusive dark matter. One plan is to focus on discovering light fermions, which may be related to the so-called "sterile neutrinos" – another theorized particle.

研究人員希望他們的方法能為尋找難以捉摸的暗物質(zhì)開辟新的途徑。一個(gè)計(jì)劃是集中精力發(fā)現(xiàn)輕費(fèi)米子，這可能與所謂的“惰性中微子”有關(guān)，后者是另一個(gè)理論粒子。

Most conducive to re-adapting, according to the scientists, would be existing experiments involving large, highly-sensitive detector materials with low background "noise" or interference. One such contraption could be the ultra sensitive UX-ZEPLIN (LZ), a dark matter search project currently under construction in a former South Dakota mine.

根據(jù)科學(xué)家的說法，最有利于重新適應(yīng)的將是現(xiàn)有的實(shí)驗(yàn)，這些實(shí)驗(yàn)將涉及大型、高靈敏度、低背景“噪音”或干擾的探測材料。超靈敏的UX-ZEPLIN (LZ)就是這樣一個(gè)精巧的裝置，這是一個(gè)暗物質(zhì)搜索項(xiàng)目，目前正在南達(dá)科他州的一個(gè)礦井中進(jìn)行。

Another possibility is try the new method with the data from the Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO), an underground experiment that already cooperated with the researchers.

另一種可能性是利用已與研究人員合作的一項(xiàng)地下實(shí)驗(yàn)——富集氙觀測站(EXO)的數(shù)據(jù)來嘗試這種新方法。