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Beyond the God Particle: UA Researchers Open New Avenues in Dark Matter Study

Beyond the God Particle: UA Researchers Open New Avenues in Dark Matter Study

Two physicists advance an innovative method to discover a hypothetical particle: the QCD axion

José Vicente Pérez Pardo

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Martes, 21 de enero 2025, 12:40

The discovery of the Higgs boson, or 'God particle', marked a qualitative leap in the study of matter, explaining the composition of the mass of elementary particles. A hypothesis that was only corroborated years later and, nevertheless, opened up more possibilities for study. Since then, physics continues its work to understand the functioning of the Universe, of which humans only comprehend 6%.

Since then, one of science's great challenges has been to explain dark matter, which makes up 85% of the universe. This mysterious form of matter is composed of particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light. Therefore, it is invisible to humans.

"We know it exists due to its gravitational effects, but we have not been able to observe it directly," point out researchers from the Department of Applied Physics at the University of Alicante (UA), Antonio Gómez-Bañón and José A. Pons. Both scientists have published an article revealing an innovative method to study the QCD axion (Quantum Chromo-Dynamics), another hypothetical particle, like the Higgs boson, whose discovery would provide another qualitative leap in understanding the universe.

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The discovery of the QCD axion could solve major questions in fundamental physics, such as the nature of dark matter. Hence, it is crucial to determine its properties, such as its mass, and how it interacts with other particles. The theory indicates that the mass "If this particle exists, its presence would have measurable effects in certain extreme environments such as neutron stars," highlight Gómez-Bañón and Pons.

In fact, their latest work, published in the prestigious journal 'Physical Review Letters' alongside researchers from the Technical University of Munich, focuses precisely on understanding how the QCD axion can affect the structure and temperature of neutron stars by observing astrophysical phenomena. At the same time, it seeks ways to constrain the properties of these particles.

Key results

The UA research team has made two key contributions in the search for this axion: identifying a new exclusion region in its parameter space and developing an innovative method to constrain its properties using neutron stars. "We have investigated how the hypothetical particle affects the energy and pressure of nuclear matter within neutron stars," they explain.

The solutions obtained reveal that, for certain values of the QCD axion parameters, the outer layer of the neutron star becomes thinner, reducing its thermal insulation and accelerating the star's cooling. By comparison, "this is equivalent to a planet losing its atmosphere and nullifying the greenhouse effect," they explain.

To reach this conclusion, UA researchers have conducted simulations of the long-term thermal evolution of the star. "In advanced stages of evolution, the simulations predicted cooler neutron stars than observational data. This difference has allowed us to establish new limits on the values of the QCD axion parameters," they note.

Unlike previous approaches, the new method examines how the very presence of the axion modifies the structure of the neutron star, compressing its outer layers and accelerating its cooling. Additionally, they clarify, "the exclusion region we have identified restricts previous theoretical models, especially those where the QCD axion would be slightly lighter than expected."

"Although we have not yet detected the QCD axion, its possible influence in the most extreme environments of the universe opens a unique window to explore the deepest mysteries of physics," conclude the UA researchers.

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