CERN: Fresh Antimatter Study Will Help Search for Dark Matter

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CERN: Fresh Antimatter Study Will Help Search for Dark Matter

Post by bystander » Fri May 29, 2020 1:51 pm

Fresh Antimatter Study by ALICE Collaboration
Will Help With the Search for Dark Matter

CERN | European Organization for Nuclear Research | 2020 May 28

The study of light antinuclei – from creation to annihilation – will bolster future indirect dark matter searches

201901-004_01.jpg
A view of the underground ALICE detector used in the study of the antideuteron
(Image: CERN)

The ALICE collaboration has presented new results on the production rates of antideuterons based on data collected at the highest collision energy delivered so far at the Large Hadron Collider. The antideuteron is composed of an antiproton and an antineutron. The new measurements are important because the presence of antideuterons in space is a promising indirect signature of dark matter candidates. The results mark a step forward in the search for dark matter.

Recent astrophysical and cosmological results point towards dark matter being the dominant form of matter in the universe, accounting for approximately 85% of all matter. The nature of dark matter remains a great mystery, and cracking its secrets would open a new door for physics.

Detecting antideuterons in space could be an indirect signature of dark matter, since they could be produced during the annihilation or decay of neutralinos or sneutrinos, which are hypothetical dark matter particles. ...

Measurement of the Low-Energy Antideuteron Inelastic Cross Section ~ ALICE Collaboration
(Anti-)Deuteron Production in pp Collisions at √s = 13 TeV ~ ALICE Collaboration
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