Scientists at the University of Nottingham have developed a new method using a 3D printed vacuum system to detect dark matter and potentially reveal the nature of dark energy. This system manipulates gas density and uses ultracold lithium atoms to probe the effects of scalar fields to observe domain walls – defects created during phase transitions in scalar fields. A laser photon system in a laboratory at the University of Nottingham. Credit: University of Nottingham
Scientists have devised a 3D-printed vacuum system to detect dark matter and probe dark energy using ultracold lithium atoms to identify domain walls and potentially explain the accelerating expansion of the universe.
Scientists have developed a new 3D printed vacuum system designed to ‘capture’ dark matter, aiming to detect domain walls. This advance represents a significant step forward in deciphering the mysteries of the universe.
Scientists at the University of Nottingham’s School of Physics have created a 3D-printed vacuum system that they will use in a new experiment to reduce the density of gas, then add ultracold lithium atoms to try to detect dark walls. The research was published in a scientific journal Physical overview D.
Professor Clare Burrage, from the School of Physics, is one of the lead authors of the study and explains: “The ordinary matter of which the world is made is only a tiny fraction of the universe’s content, about 5%, the rest being either dark. matter or dark energy—we can see their effects on how the universe behaves, but we don’t know what they are. One way people try to measure dark matter is by introducing a particle called a scalar field.
“Dark matter is the missing matter in galaxies, dark energy can explain the acceleration of the expansion of the universe. The scalar fields we are looking for can be either dark matter or dark energy. By introducing ultracold atoms and investigating the effects it produces, we may be able to explain why the expansion of the universe is accelerating and whether this has any effects on Earth.”
The researchers based the design of the 3D containers on the theory that light scalar fields with double-well potentials and direct matter couplings undergo density-driven phase transitions, leading to the formation of domain walls.
Methodology and theory
Professor Burrage continues: “As the density decreases, defects form – it’s similar to when water freezes into ice, the water molecules are random, and when they freeze you get a crystal structure with the molecules lined up randomly, some lined up in one direction and some lined up in one direction. another and this creates fault lines. Something similar happens in scalar fields as the density decreases. You can’t see these fault lines with the eye, but if particles pass through them, it can change their trajectory. These defects are dark walls and can prove scalar field theory – either these fields exist or they don’t.”
To detect these defects, or dark walls, the team created a specially designed vacuum that they will use in a new experiment that will mimic moving from a dense medium to a less dense one. Using the new setup, he cools lithium atoms with laser photons to -273, which is close absolute zeroat this temperature they acquire quantum properties that make the analysis more accurate and predictable.
Lucia Hackermueller, Associate Professor in the School of Physics, who led the design of the lab experiment, explains: “The 3D printed vessels we use as a vacuum chamber were constructed using theoretical Dark Walls calculations, this created what we believed. to be the ideal shape, structure and texture to capture dark matter. To successfully demonstrate that the dark walls were trapped, we let the cold atom the cloud will pass through those walls. The cloud is then deflected. To cool these atoms, we shoot laser photons at the atoms, which lowers the energy in the atom – it’s like slowing down an elephant with snowballs!
It took the team three years to build the system, and they expect results within a year.
Dr. Hackermueller adds: “Whether we prove that dark walls exist or not, this will be an important step forward in our understanding of dark energy and dark matter, and an excellent example of how a well-controlled laboratory experiment can be designed to directly measure the effects.” which are relevant to the universe and otherwise unobservable.”
Reference: “Detection of dark domain walls through their impact on particle trajectories in tailored ultrahigh vacuum environments” by Kate Clements, Benjamin Elder, Lucia Hackermueller, Mark Fromhold and Clare Burrage, 14 Jun 2024, Physical overview D.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.109.123023