Sensitivity of Parity-Violating Electron Scattering to a Dark Photon
- Journal:
- Physical Review Letters
- Published:
- DOI:
- 10.1103/physrevlett.129.011807
- Affiliations:
- 1
- Authors:
- 3
Research Highlight
How to detect dark photons
© Xrrth Choti Thaen Sila/EyeEm/Getty Images
Measurements of a special type of electron scattering could provide a sensitive test for the existence of hypothetical invisible particles of light dubbed dark photons.
Dark matter is thought to make up 84% of the mass in the Universe, but no one yet knows what form it takes.
Dark photons have been proposed as a candidate for dark matter. If they exist, dark photons would be similar to normal photons except they would interact very little with matter and would have a small mass.
Now, calculations performed by three researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia suggest a sensitive way to determine whether dark photons exist.
The existence of the dark photon could significantly affect measurements of electron scattering in which parity is violated — essentially the difference between scattering experiments performed in a lab and a mirror image of the interaction.
References
- Physical Review Letters 129, 011807 (2022). doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.011807
Institutions | Authors | Share |
---|---|---|
The University of Adelaide (Adelaide Uni), Australia | 1.00 |