Link between antimatter and dark matter probed

Carosi, Gianpaolo

doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03431-5

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13 November 2019

Link between antimatter and dark matter probed

Ultrasensitive experiments on trapped antiprotons provide a window onto possible differences between matter and antimatter. Now they could also shed light on the identity of dark matter — the ‘missing’ mass in the Universe.

Gianpaolo Carosi ⁰

Gianpaolo Carosi
1. Gianpaolo Carosi is in the Rare Event Detection Group, Physical and Life Sciences Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
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Two of the most intriguing mysteries in modern cosmology are the apparent preponderance of ordinary matter over antimatter and the nature of dark matter, which accounts for about 85% of the mass in the Universe¹. Dark matter has made its presence known only through its gravitational effects on astrophysical objects. Therefore, whatever type of particle it is made of must have feeble interactions with other matter. One leading candidate is the axion — a light neutral particle that was originally postulated to explain why the neutron lacks a measurable electric dipole moment². Until now, researchers have looked for evidence of couplings between axion dark matter and only ordinary particles such as photons, electrons and nuclei³^,⁴. Writing in Nature, Smorra et al.⁵ report a search for a coupling between axion dark matter and antimatter (specifically, antiprotons).

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Nature 575, 293-294 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03431-5

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