Scientists at Virginia Tech University conduct an unusual study of dark matter using ancient rocks instead of modern detectors. Dark matter makes up about 27% of the Universe, but its nature is still not known because it has almost no interaction with baryonic matter, so it is not directly observed.
Physicist Patrick Huber leads an interdisciplinary team in this groundbreaking project. With the help of a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, he is opening a lab in Robeson Hall where he plans to test theories about dark matter. The idea is to find evidence of past collisions of dark matter particles with atoms in the crystalline structures of rocks, because these traces can remain for billions of years.
Usually scientists conduct experiments to search for dark matter underground to reduce the influence of cosmic rays, but even there the background radiation exists, which can hamper research. Under such conditions, the task of scientists is to find minerals that contain traces of these particles. Professor Robert Bodnar, a mineralogist who was recently recognized as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, joined the team. Bodnar will assist in the identification of appropriate detector minerals.
Advanced visualization techniques are used to process the data. Huber’s team is already performing three-dimensional visualization of particle tracks in synthetic lithium fluoride. This material will not be used as a detector, but will serve to test new methods of analysis. Such approaches, Huber said, would help create nuclear transparency devices that could be used to monitor nuclear reactors.
Using ancient radiation minerals to search for dark matter seems risky but potentially breakthrough. “It’s crazy. When I first heard about this idea,” Huber said, “I was like — this is insane. I want to do it.”
If the method works, the ancient rocks could unlock the secrets of the Universe, and dark matter would no longer be an elusive mystery to mankind.
We previously reported on how ultralight dark matter affected gravitational waves in a way unknown to science.
Provided by scitechdaily.com
