One mile below, a $60 million project to detect dark matter is being done.
Dark matter comprises 85 percent of all matter in the cosmos, yet its existence has never been proven.
In an abandoned gold mine in South Dakota, a team of 250 scientists has constructed the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter detector, which has recently produced its first data points.
Professor of physics and astronomy at Rochester Frank Wolfs, who is managing Rochester’s participation in the project, said in a statement: ‘We did not discover any dark matter, but the initial results of the LZ detector indicate that it is the most sensitive dark matter detector in the world.
LZ will collect data for around one thousand days, greatly enhancing the sensitivity for dark matter detection established during the initial data collection phase.
The team has just begun working underground for two months; the planned duration of the experiment is five years.
Even though the initial data points were negative, it is hoped that LZ will acquire evidence of the elusive particles before the mission concludes
The concept of dark matter, originally referred to as missing matter,’ was first proposed in 1933, following the discovery that the mass of all-stars in the Coma cluster of galaxies accounted for approximately one percent of the mass required to prevent galaxies from escaping the cluster’s gravitational pull.
American astronomers Vera Rubin and Kent Ford discovered irregularities in the orbits of stars in galaxies in the 1970s.
The discovery prompted the scientific community to theorize that the abnormalities were produced by masses of unseen ‘dark matter’ around galaxies.
Since then, however, it has remained an idea.
The South Dakota team is one of many that want to be the first to prove the existence of dark matter.
The team makes the 10-minute descent to the mine while wearing protective equipment.
Wolfs stated, “All of our electronics have been built specifically for LZ to enhance our sensitivity to the lowest conceivable signals.”
Two tanks attached to the detector are the key to LZ’s ability to detect weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which are a form of hypothetical particles.
The tanks contain 22,046 pounds of highly pure liquid xenon, a colorless, dense, odorless noble gas present in trace concentrations in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Due to their characteristics, xenon atoms can generate light in specific particle interactions.
If or when the hypothetical particle is discovered, light and electrical signals will be activated within the tank.
Dark matter is the enigmatic element that scientists cannot affirm that comprises 85 percent of the universe.
Dark matter is a hypothetical material that is believed to constitute approximately 85 percent of the cosmos.
The mysterious substance is invisible because it does not reflect light, and scientists have never personally witnessed it.
Astronomers are aware of its existence because of the gravitational effects it has on known matter.
According to the European Space Agency, if you shine a flashlight in a completely dark room, you will only see what the flashlight illuminates.
That does not imply the existence of the room around you.
Similarly, we are aware of the existence of dark matter but have never actually observed it.
It is believed that the material is the gravitational “glue” that ties galaxies together.
Numerous galaxies would be split apart instead of revolving if not for a substantial portion of dark matter, according to calculations.
Five percent of the observable cosmos is made up of known stuff, including atoms and subatomic particles.
