Dark matter is still one of physics’ biggest mysteries.
Now, researchers have recreated axion-like behavior in a lab — using quasiparticles.
This isn’t just theory.
It’s a testable, physical analog of a leading dark matter candidate.
Condensed matter might be the next frontier for dark matter experiments.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dark-matter-axions-quasiparticles
On the hunt for #axions / New #X-ray experiment at the @EuropeanXFEL could solve some of the mysteries of #physics / publication in #Physical #Review #Letters
https://www.xfel.eu/news_and_events/news/index_eng.html?openDirectAnchor=2615&two_columns=0
#STFC # Oxford #dark #matter
https://nachrichten.idw-online.de/2025/02/20/on-the-hunt-for-axions
SciTech Chronicles. . . . . . . . .Feb 9th, 2025
#microbiomes #Isala #dysbiosis #vaginal #Silverblue #rpm-ostree #containers #cloud #space-time #lasers #Lambda-CDM #axions #DeepSeek #AI #NowSecure #ATS #graphene #superconduction #moiré #quasiparticles
Passend zum letzten Boost vom @MPIfR_Bonn: Wenn ihr mehr über die Suche nach axion-ähnlichen Teilchen mit dem Experiment ALPS II am @DESY und unsere Beiträge erfahren möchtet, bitte hier entlang…
➡️ https://www.aei.mpg.de/alps
In line with the last boost of the @MPIfR_Bonn posts: If you would like to learn more about the search for axion-like particles using the ALPS II experiment at @DESY and our contributions, this way please…
ALPS II (Any Light Particle Search II) sucht nach einer neuen Gruppe von Teilchen mit geringer Masse, den sogenannten axion-ähnlichen Teilchen. Diese könnten ein Bestandteil der dunklen Materie sein und andere Phänomene erklären, die das Standardmodell der Teilchenphysik nicht beschreibt. Das AEI Hannover stellt wesentliche Teile des experimentellen Aufbaus zur Verfügung und führt wegbereitende Laborexperimente durch.
✨During the #Christmas season, we often think of #wonders and the invisible🪄 that connects our world. Did you know that scientists are searching for an invisible wonder - but in the #universe? 🌌 #Axions, the promising candidates for Dark Matter (DM)🖤, are ultra-light particles with masses around 10⁻²² eV and wavelengths of about one kiloparsec (~ 3x10¹⁶ km).
Particles with similar properties to axions are called "axion-like particles" (ALPs). 💡ALPs, which include ultra-light axions, can alter #light polarization – meaning the alignment of #lightwaves. During an internship with us, Sarah searched for such phenomena in low-frequency #LOFAR data 📡 from the pulsar PSR J0332+5434. Low frequencies📉 are ideal, as the ionosphere – an electron layer in the Earth's atmosphere 🌍, caused by solar radiation – creates interference that can be removed from low-frequency LOFAR data through calibration.
According to theories, axions apperars in strong magnetic fields, such as in #stellar cores, where they can escape because they interact very weakly with normal matter. Just like DM 🖤.
Similarly, pulsars have extremely strong static magnetic fields. When cosmic ALPs enter a strong #magneticfield, they can be converted into photons – that is, light 🌟 – and thus become detectable, if ultra-light axions exist.
Currently, there are three methods for searching for ALPs:
1️⃣ Helioscopes for solar ALPs (e.g. IAXO, 🖥️ 1) ☀️,
2️⃣ Haloscope searches in the galactic halo 🌌 (e.g. observing radiopulsars, 🖥️ 2), and
3️⃣ Generating ALPs in the lab 🔬 (e.g. ALPS II, @DESY , 🖥️ 3).
© S.Pappert, E.Moerova | MPIfR
Since the 1960s, astronomers have theorized that the Universe may be filled with a mysterious mass that only interacts with “normal matter” via gravity. This mass, nicknamed Dark Matter (DM), is essential to resolving issues between astronomical observations and General Relativity. In recent years, scientists have considered that DM may be composed of axions, a … Continue reading "White Dwarf Stars May be Shrouded in Extremely Light Particles Called Axions"
I wrote an article for The Conversation about "dark matter stars"
@[email protected]
‘Dark stars’: dark matter may form exploding stars – and observing the damage could help reveal what it’s made of.
We wouldn’t be able to see them directly, but they could be out there.
José - Luis Gutiérrez Villanue
KilleansRow 🇺🇲 🇺🇦🍀
ƧƿѦςɛ♏ѦਹѤʞ
Science News
John Vaccaro (johniac)
AEI has moved
MPI für Radioastronomie
Ansgar Schmidt 
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik
Andreea Font