Australia- In the region of Victoria (Stawell), scientists are on a mission to resolve the mystery of dark matters. It is one of the greatest goals in modern physics.
Australian Research council’s Center of Excellence for Dark Matter Particles is working on a project to detect dark matter. The research conduct a kilometer underground in a goldmine in the town of Stawell in regional Victoria.
Astronomical observations of decades provide overwhelming evidence for the presence of dark matter in the Universe. However, the nature of dark matter remains Mysterious.
Scientists believe that dark matter makes more than 80% of the Universe. The invisible stuff is a web of particles that freely pass through matter. For observation, it is necessary to get rid of all interference.
Searching for A ghost
Alan Duffy, Swinburne university Astronomer and the director of the Space Technology and industry-institute defines dark matter as a ‘’Ghost’’.
‘’ Dark matter is a cloud that surrounds us… it flies through us, through solid walls, through the Earth, likening it to the wind that is seen only through its effects’’ He said.
He further added, ‘’It forms enormous universe-spanning structures, cosmic webs, and the galaxies we can see and lie along dark matter filaments like morning dew on spider’s web in the backyard.
‘’As you read this, you’ll be experiencing a few hundred million particles per second, of which maybe the couple will collide with your atoms over a day.’’
The project is similar to the one set up in Italy. Which is a Sodium iodide with an active background rejection experiment to detect dark matter particles using scattering off nuclei. The fundamental feature of the experiment is Crystal radio-purity.
The Australian team has created the purest crystal possible. The crystal will glow when particles hit them. They are put into a copper tube, inside a steel vessel that is surrounded by liquid that will also glow when struck by particles.
Chief Investigator Duffy said that they are looking for the flash of light into two places.
‘’ if the crystal glows, we look at the liquid around it, and if the liquid has also flashed, we know it can’t be dark matter, because the chances the dark matter has hit atoms twice is infinitesimally small.’’
The dark matter hunters continue their search and it is expect to be up and running in the New Year. Duffy says, ‘’we wait for the Ghost.’’ And they are hopeful to resolve some mystery.
