Possible dark matter signal detected in LZ experiment
At the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, researchers recorded an interaction between a particle and a xenon atom that may correspond to a dark matter interaction scenario. At the same time, scientists stress that one such case is not enough to claim the discovery of dark matter.
As The Japan Times reports, the observation was made as part of the LUX-ZEPLIN, or LZ, experiment. The detector is located at a depth of approximately 1.6 kilometers in a former gold mine in the Black Hills region. Its underground location is intended to shield the instrument from cosmic rays and other sources of background radiation.
Interaction with xenon
The experiment uses 10 tonnes of liquid xenon in a large cylindrical detector operated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Researchers are searching for rare instances of dark matter particles scattering off xenon atoms. Such interactions are expected to produce flashes of light whose properties may indicate the type of particle.
During the recorded event, the nucleus of a xenon atom received a small impulse — a so-called nuclear recoil — and the detector registered a faint ultraviolet flash. Scientists suggest that this could have been a collision with a WIMP, a hypothetical weakly interacting massive particle considered one of the candidates for the role of a dark matter particle.
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Conclusions are still premature
The study's author, University of Bristol particle physicist Sam Eriksen, called the event a possible first hint of observing dark matter. However, he stressed that the team is not claiming that the recorded signal definitely came from it, since this is only one case.
University of California, Los Angeles astrophysicist and co-author Alvina Kamaha said that researchers must carefully rule out other explanations. The result was presented at a scientific conference in Japan, and the study was submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters.
Dark matter neither emits nor reflects light, so it cannot be seen directly. Scientists link its existence to gravitational effects observed in galaxies and galaxy clusters. Ordinary matter, which makes up stars, planets, and people, accounts for about 15% of all matter in the Universe.
