It seems that scientists have based their understanding of the basic laws of physics on the existence of only four fundamental forces: weak and strong nuclear forces, electromagnetism, and gravitation. They stumbled across an anomaly when inspecting the radioactive decay of an unstable isotope of beryllium for any sign of “dark photons” – a dark matter particle.
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The Hungarian team initially suggested that maybe their blip had been some kind of dark photon – a hypothetical particle responsible for carrying dark matter – but since their initial publication, worldwide researchers have taken their data and run with it. Today, we know of four fundamental fources, which are gravitation, electromagnetism, and strong and weak nuclear forces.
If the experiments of the future show a fifth force to exist as well, it would change our very model of the universe.
So, a quick back story here: the odd result in question was first seen a year ago, when a team from the Hungarian Academy of Science fired high-energy beams of protons at lithium-7, and in the fall-out spotted the energy signature of a new super-light subatomic particle. The forces would be unified differently and dark matter would become a new entry on the scene.
The researchers came upon a mid-2015 study by experimental nuclear physicists at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences who were searching for “dark photons”. The “x” stands for the unknown nature of this boson’s characteristics. Normal electric force acts on protons and electrons with positive and negative charge, respectively.
The proposed particle has been labelled a “protophobic X boson”. “Now, a wild subatomic particle appears, bringing with it the possibility of a fifth force of nature”. Furthermore, its existence casts doubt upon whether the known “sector” of matter and particles exists alongside a “dark” sector – both interacting with each other via another, unseen force.
“The experimentalists weren’t able to claim that it was a new force”, said Feng. However, according to Feng, their experiments did not confirm the Hungarians’ findings.
Feng said that the potential fifth force of nature may be linked to the electromagnetic as well as strong and weak nuclear forces, as “manifestations of one grander, more fundamental force”. However, it interacts very weakly, and is extremely light. The researchers said that these two sectors may interact with each other through fundamental but veiled interactions. “That being said, as this new particle is so light, there are many experimental groups working in small laboratories around the world that can move forward, now that they know where to look”, he added.
Furthermore, based on the now understanding of the standard model, he and his colleagues believe that there could be a separate dark sector with its own matter and forces, and that the two sectors interact with one another through a difficult-to-detect series of fundamental interactions.
“This dark sector force may manifest itself as this protophobic force we’re seeing as a result of the Hungarian experiment”.
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“In a broader sense, it fits in with our original research to understand the nature of dark matter”, Feng added.
