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Particle physics

Axions exposed

Nature volume 539, pages 40–41 (2016)Cite this article

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A Clarification to this article was published on 09 February 2017

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Physicists are hunting for a particle called the axion that could solve two major puzzles in fundamental physics. An ambitious study calculates the expected mass of this particle, which might reshape the experimental searches. See Letter p.69 See Clarification p.176

The strong nuclear force binds the constituents of protons and neutrons together and is well described by a theory called quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Within experimental error, the strong force is time-symmetric — the behaviour of strong interactions does not change if the flow of time is reversed. However, the equations of QCD might contain a symmetry-violating term that can theoretically take any value. And nature has chosen to set this term to zero. Why is this? The leading explanation is that the term is not zero, but is cancelled out by the presence of a 'neutralizing' particle called the axion1,2,3, which has yet to be discovered. Such a particle could also solve a long-standing problem in cosmology by making up dark matter, the 'missing' matter in the Universe. On page 69, Borsanyi et al.4 calculate the expected mass of the axion with unprecedented accuracy, a result that could be useful for understanding the properties of this mysterious particle and directing strategies for its detection5.

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Figure 1: The hunt for axions.

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  1. Maria Paola Lombardo is at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, I-00044 Frascati, Italy.

    Maria Paola Lombardo

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  1. Maria Paola Lombardo
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Correspondence to Maria Paola Lombardo.

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Lombardo, M. Axions exposed. Nature 539, 40–41 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/539040a

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