2/9/2024 0 Comments Deep space atomic clockThe NASA Parker Solar Probe, operating since 2018, is the closest artificial spacecraft to the sun in human history. The technology to put their theory to the test already exists, the scientists said. To have the best chance of working, the scientists said, the clocks should be positioned close to the sun, where theory predicts that the dark matter should clump in a halo. Ultralight dark matter in the vicinity of the clock experiment could modify those frequencies, as the oscillations of the dark matter slightly increase and decrease the photon energy. Specifically, atomic clocks-sometimes known as quantum clocks-operate by carefully measuring the frequency of photons emitted in transitions of different states in atoms. They knew that atomic clocks use these constants of nature to operate-so any change in these constants of nature should show up in the functioning of the atomic clock. This caught the attention of the scientists. If this ultralight dark matter exists the way the theory predicts it does, it should cause oscillations in the very constants of nature-such as in the mass of electrons or the strength of the electromagnetic force. One such theory is known as “ultralight” dark matter. “If we could find dark matter and understand its properties, we can understand the evolution of our universe.”īut because scientists are not even sure exactly what dark matter is and how it behaves, it’s been difficult to even design ways to find it.Ĭonsequently, scientists have come up with many theories of what dark matter could look like. “Dark matter is one of the most important remaining mysteries in astronomy and cosmology, given its unknown and elusive nature,” explained Tsai. 5, was led by Tsai, who initiated the project at the University of Chicago and Fermilab and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Irvine, along with collaborators University of Delaware physicist Marianna Safronova and Joshua Eby of the University of Tokyo and the Kavli Institute for the Physics and the Mathematics of the Universe. "There are many new exciting directions in the intersection of all these fields." "This is a beautiful synergy between particle theorists and a quantum expert, and we have been in contact with NASA solar probe researchers to realize this proposal," said lead author Yu-Dai Tsai. This caught the attention of researchers, who thought they might be able to use this unique precision to detect dark matter. These clocks are so precise that they will not lose even a second of time in billions of years. Sending an atomic clock onboard a spacecraft to fly close to the sun might be the trick to uncovering the nature of dark matter, suggests a new study published in Nature Astronomy.ĭark matter makes up more than 80% of the mass in the universe, which we know because we can see its effects on galaxies and stars-but so far, no one has been able to directly detect it, despite decades of experimental efforts.Ī group of scientists has proposed a new way to look for this mysterious dark matter, using the technology known as atomic clocks.Ītomic clocks, which tell time by measuring the rapid oscillations of atoms, are already at work in space, enabling the Global Positioning System (GPS).
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