astroparticle physics
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These Violent Collisions Could Be Producing Dark Matter
A collision of two extraordinarily dense, collapsed stars in the distant universe is providing potential clues to the axion, a dark matter candidate first proposed half a century ago. The stellar remnants are neutron stars, the corpses that remain after massive stars collapse in on themselves. These dead stars are so dense that their electrons…
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Scientists Propose Webb Telescope Has Detected Stars Powered by Dark Matter
Astronomers looking at ancient light seen by the Webb Space Telescope have found three pinpricks that they think could be “dark stars,” theoretical objects powered by dark matter. Dark matter makes up about 27% of the universe; its partner in ambiguity, dark energy, makes up about 68%. You can do the math: we know stunningly…
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A Famous Dark Matter Signal Is Probably Coming From Something Else
Physicists have been trying for several years to double-check a signal from an experiment buried in an Italian mountain — a signal that looked an awful lot like a dark matter suspect known as a WIMP. Previous attempts to see that signal with other projects had fallen flat, and now, the experiment most similar to…
