UCL: Dark Matter Particle Remains Elusive

[bystander]

Dark Matter Particle Remains Elusive
University College London | 2016 July 21

[img3="The photon sensors inside LUX (Credit: C.H. Faham)"]https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-article ... r-0279.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter experiment has yielded no trace of a dark matter particle after completing its final 20-month long search of the universe, according to LUX collaboration scientists including UCL researchers.

LUX’s sensitivity far exceeded the goals for the project and the team are confident that if dark matter particles had interacted with the LUX’s Xenon target, the detector would almost certainly have seen it. This finding enables scientists to confidently eliminate many potential models for dark matter particles, offering critical guidance for the next generation of experiments. ...

World’s Most Sensitive Dark Matter Detector Completes Search
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory | 2016 July 21

[Evermore]

So Dark Matter may not be Dark Matter at all .. "Imaginative Matter?"

[Ann]

I'm so amazed that humanity has managed to create a comprehensive and well-tested theory of the universe. I'm impressed that the search for still more mysteries continues so diligently. I can see the value of searches coming up negative sometimes, because that means that some hypotheses can be ruled out.

We can, of course, jump to the conclusion that much of what we thought we knew about the universe must be wrong if the latest attempt to figure out the nature of dark matter failed. Of course this latest attempt meant only just that: we can so clearly see the effects of dark matter in the universe, but we still haven't been able to learn what dark matter really is.

If the ants of an anthill had managed to calculate the size of the Earth, the presence of continents and oceans, the relative size of the continents versus the oceans, the precipitation cycle, the nature of photosynthesis and the role of sunlight and water for life on Earth, as well as the nature of plate tectonics, but had failed to figure out what the Sun is and how it shines, I think we could nevertheless be impressed with the ants' achievements.

Ann

[Evermore]

I'm so amazed that humanity has managed to create a comprehensive and well-tested theory of the universe. I'm impressed that the search for still more mysteries continues so diligently. I can see the value of searches coming up negative sometimes, because that means that some hypotheses can be ruled out.

We can, of course, jump to the conclusion that much of what we thought we knew about the universe must be wrong if the latest attempt to figure out the nature of dark matter failed. Of course this latest attempt meant only just that: we can so clearly see the effects of dark matter in the universe, but we still haven't been able to learn what dark matter really is.

If the ants of an anthill had managed to calculate the size of the Earth, the presence of continents and oceans, the relative size of the continents versus the oceans, the precipitation cycle, the nature of photosynthesis and the role of sunlight and water for life on Earth, as well as the nature of plate tectonics, but had failed to figure out what the Sun is and how it shines, I think we could nevertheless be impressed with the ants' achievements.

Ann

Ann, while your sentiment is good, your use of the pronoun "We" is askance. "We" is not inclusive at all .. for instance there are a fair number of viable theories to explain Dark Matter existence or non existence, the proponents of each of those ideas not inclusive in the "we" of those supporting other ideas. Open mindedness is becoming scare in all areas of thought, social and scientific including, with the opinion of the "me" generally far stronger than any of the "we." Perhaps this comes from desperate attempts to retain our individual psychic place in the universe rather than attempts to understand it.

[bystander]

So Dark Matter may not be Dark Matter at all .. "Imaginative Matter?"

While the LUX experiment successfully eliminated a large swath of mass ranges and interaction-coupling strengths where WIMPs might exist, the WIMP model itself, “remains alive and viable,” said Gaitskell, the Brown University physicist.

[Evermore]

So Dark Matter may not be Dark Matter at all .. "Imaginative Matter?"

[quote=""LBNL"]While the LUX experiment successfully eliminated a large swath of mass ranges and interaction-coupling strengths where WIMPs might exist, the WIMP model itself, “remains alive and viable,” said Gaitskell, the Brown University physicist.

[/quote]

The problem is seeking an answer that fits the model. This restricts investigation.

[Chris Peterson]

So Dark Matter may not be Dark Matter at all .. "Imaginative Matter?"

[quote=""LBNL"]While the LUX experiment successfully eliminated a large swath of mass ranges and interaction-coupling strengths where WIMPs might exist, the WIMP model itself, “remains alive and viable,” said Gaitskell, the Brown University physicist.

The problem is seeking an answer that fits the model. This restricts investigation.[/quote]
No, it focuses it. The model is a representation of physical reality (in essence, it is a theory). Because it is so well supported by so many independent lines of evidence, we have a high degree of confidence that it is broadly correct. It is therefore reasonable to look for observations that are consistent with that model.

[Evermore]

The problem is seeking an answer that fits the model. This restricts investigation.

No, it focuses it. The model is a representation of physical reality (in essence, it is a theory). Because it is so well supported by so many independent lines of evidence, we have a high degree of confidence that it is broadly correct. It is therefore reasonable to look for observations that are consistent with that model.

Right, you focus a beam of light, for instance, the expanse of light narrows. Either way you look at it, once you make a model, it excludes possibilities.
But this is a silly go nowhere discussion in the long run, so I'm done.