NEW YORK, BRONX (ORDO News) — Rotating neutron stars could be “factories” for the production of axions – hypothetical particles of dark matter, if it consists of them. Scientists simulated the operation of such a “factory” and checked the calculations on 27 pulsars.
Scientists estimate that approximately 85% of the matter in the Universe is dark matter. But we are unable to study it, because it seems to interact with ordinary matter exclusively gravitationally. Stars and galaxies do not form from dark matter, although several years ago astronomers suggested that dark matter could quickly form the first supermassive black holes in the Universe.
Dark matter does not absorb, emit or scatter radiation. At least to the extent that astronomers could easily detect with modern instruments. And yet there are small discrepancies in observational and calculation data that scientists are trying to explain with the help of dark matter.
Thus, the optical background of the Universe, measured by the New Horizons space probe , turned out to be almost twice as bright as predicted by theories and models. Astrophysicists from Johns Hopkins University (USA) suggested that this additional glow arises due to the decay of axions, one of the candidates for dark matter, in powerful magnetic fields. It is possible that axions impart strength to more than just background radiation.
Axions are hypothetical particles proposed in the 1970s as an explanation for discrepancies between calculations and observations of internal processes in neutrons. Even the name itself came from the name of a brand of washing powder, because the particle was supposed to “clean up” an inconsistency in the data. Many scientists believe that it will also help solve the problem of dark matter.
It has not yet been possible to find axions, but a team of physicists and astronomers from the Netherlands, Portugal and the United States has developed a theoretical basis for the appearance and behavior of axions. Their research was published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Based on initial assumptions about the essence of axions, scientists concluded that these particles cannot appear everywhere in the Universe, but in the presence of powerful electromagnetic fields they must decay into photons. The most powerful electromagnetic fields are found in pulsars and rotating neutron stars.
Moreover, pulsars, being the most powerful magnets, can at the same time be “factories” for the production of axions from photons. This means that we need to take a closer look at pulsars: “extra” radiation, as in the case of the background of the Universe, may be a consequence of decaying axions.
In a new study, scientists developed a theoretical basis for the operation of such a “factory” and calculated how much brighter the pulsar’s radiation should be. The team then tested their assumptions using observational data from 27 pulsars.
Unfortunately, they were unable to detect the “excess” radiation – perhaps the problem is that we do not fully understand the nature of the radiation of the pulsars themselves. But, as the authors of the work optimistically stated, they were able to impose restrictions on the parameters of the interaction of axions with radiation. Moreover, the calculations were carried out in complete independence from assumptions about the participation of these particles in the composition of dark matter.
In the spring, the ALPS II experiment on converting photons into axions and back into photons was launched at the DESY research center (Germany) . Scientists planned to achieve full sensitivity in the second half of this year. And the next step is to modernize the mirror system. The first results were promised to be published in 2024.
It is worth noting that many astrophysicists today are very skeptical about the idea that dark matter consists of particles – it doesn’t matter, axions or WIMPs. This is contradicted by observations of the Bullet and Fat Man galaxy clusters, which show speeds of their approach that are incompatible with the friction inevitable for the scenario if dark matter consists of particles. In this regard, alternative explanations of its nature are gaining increasing popularity .
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News agencies contributed to this report, edited and published by ORDO News editors.
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