Axions tagged posts

Dark matter is a ghostly substance that astronomers have failed to detect for decades, yet which we know has an enormous influence on normal matter in the universe, such as stars and galaxies. Through the massive gravitational pull it exerts on galaxies, it spins them up, gives them an extra push along their orbits, or even rips them apart.

Like a cosmic carnival mirror, it also bends the light from distant objects to create distorted or multiple images, a process which is called gravitational lensing.

And recent research suggests it may create even more drama than this, by producing stars that explode.

For all the havoc it plays with galaxies, not much is known about whet...

Researchers say they may have found proof of theorized axions, and possibly dark matter, around group of neutron stars. A new study, led by a theoretical physicist at the U.S...

This is Michal Rawlik of ETH Zürich and Nicholas Ayres of Sussex University. Credit: University of Sussex

Scientists at the University of Sussex have disproved the existence of a specific type of axion – an important candidate ‘dark matter’ particle – across a wide range of its possible masses. The data were collected by an international consortium, the Neutron Electric Dipole Moment (nEDM) Collaboration, whose experiment is based at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland. Data were taken there and, earlier, at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble. Professor Philip Harris said: “Experts largely agree that a major portion of the mass in the universe consists of ‘dark matter’. Its nature, however, remains completely obscure...

Scientists at IBS CAPP are prototyping haloscopes – machines that hunt for dark matter. Haloscope have very strong magnets. Helix-shaped magnets (solenoid magnets, on the left) are commonly used in dark matter experiments. CAPP scientists are also investigating the possibility of using donut-shaped magnets, technically known as toroidal magnets, and nicknamed this device “CAPPuccino submarine”. Credit: Image courtesy of Institute for Basic Science

IBS scientists clarify that toroidal magnets can also look for axions, one of the particle candidates for the mysterious dark matter...