In a landmark discovery that bridges nearly a century of theoretical physics, a Chinese research team has successfully captured the first direct evidence of the Migdal effect, a breakthrough with profound implications for probing dark matter—the invisible substance thought to make up roughly 85% of the universe.

The finding, published in the journal Nature, confirms a prediction made in 1939 by Soviet physicist Arkady Migdal: When an atomic nucleus suddenly gains energy—for instance, from a collision with a neutral particle (like a neutron or a dark matter candidate)—and recoils, the rapid shift in the atom’s internal electric field can eject one of its orbiting electrons.

For nearly nine decades, this “electron ejection” process remained purely theoretical. Direct evidence proved elusive because the effect occurs on an incredibly tiny scale and is easily masked by background noise from cosmic rays and natural radiation.