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Category: cosmology – Page 6

New adaptive optics system promises sharper gravitational-wave observations

Gravitational-wave detection technology is poised to make a big leap forward thanks to an instrumentation advance led by physicist Jonathan Richardson of the University of California, Riverside. A paper detailing the invention, published in the journal Optica, reports the successful development and testing of FROSTI, a full-scale prototype for controlling laser wavefronts at extreme power levels inside the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO.

LIGO is an observatory that detects —ripples in spacetime caused by massive accelerating objects like merging black holes. It was the first to confirm their existence, supporting Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. LIGO uses two 4-km-long laser interferometers in Washington and Louisiana to capture these signals, opening a new window into the universe and deepening our understanding of , cosmology, and extreme states of matter.

LIGO’s mirrors are among the most precise and carefully engineered components of the observatory. Each mirror is 34 cm in diameter and 20 cm thick and weighs about 40 kg. The mirrors must remain perfectly still to detect distortions in spacetime smaller than 1/1,000th the diameter of a proton. Even the smallest vibration or environmental disturbance can overwhelm the gravitational wave signal.

The surprising new particle that could finally explain dark matter

Physicists are eyeing charged gravitinos—ultra-heavy, stable particles from supergravity theory—as possible Dark Matter candidates. Unlike axions or WIMPs, these particles carry electric charge but remain undetectable due to their scarcity. With detectors like JUNO and DUNE, researchers now have a chance to spot their unique signal, a breakthrough that could link particle physics with gravity.

3D particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate first true steady state in turbulent plasma

Plasma is a state of matter that emerges when a gas is heated to sufficiently high temperatures, prompting some electrons to become free from atoms. This state of matter has been the focus of many astrophysical studies, as predictions suggest that it would be found in the proximity of various cosmological objects, including pulsars and black holes.

Previous research findings suggest that the environment around these celestial objects is turbulent, which essentially means that magnetic fields and electric fields within it fluctuate chaotically across many scales. These chaotic fluctuations would in turn influence the movements and acceleration of particles.

Researchers have been trying to reproduce the turbulent environment associated with the emergence of in space using numerical simulations. However, they were so far unable to realize a steady state in which a system’s properties no longer change over time, such as that one might observe in real cosmic systems.

Astronomers Spot “Impossible” Fifth Image Unlocking Dark Matter Secrets

Astronomers studying a rare Einstein Cross stumbled upon an impossible “fifth image” that shouldn’t exist — and it revealed something extraordinary.

Careful analysis showed the strange light pattern could only be explained by the presence of a vast, hidden halo of dark matter bending the galaxy’s glow.

Discovery of a Cosmic Anomaly.

Primordial black holes may trigger Type Ia supernovae without companion stars

A new article published in The Astrophysical Journal explores a new theory of how Type Ia supernovae, the powerful stellar explosions that astronomers use to measure distances across the universe, might be triggered. Traditionally, these supernovae occur when a white dwarf star explodes after interacting with a companion star. But this explanation has limitations, leaving open questions about how these events line up with the consistent patterns astronomers actually observe.

Information could be a fundamental part of the universe, and may explain dark energy and dark matter

For more than a century, physics has been built on two great theories. Einstein’s general relativity explains gravity as the bending of space and time.

Quantum mechanics governs the world of particles and fields. Both work brilliantly in their own domains. But put them together and contradictions appear—especially when it comes to black holes, dark matter, and the origins of the cosmos.

My colleagues and I have been exploring a new way to bridge that divide. The idea is to treat information—not matter, not energy, not even spacetime itself—as the most fundamental ingredient of reality. We call this framework the quantum memory matrix (QMM).

The gravitino: A new candidate for dark matter

Dark matter remains one of the biggest mysteries in fundamental physics. Many theoretical proposals (axions, WIMPs) and 40 years of extensive experimental searches have failed to provide any explanation of the nature of dark matter.

Several years ago, in a theory unifying and gravity, new, radically different candidates were proposed: superheavy charged gravitinos.

Now, a paper published in Physical Review Research by scientists from the University of Warsaw and Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics shows how new underground detectors, in particular the JUNO detector starting soon to take data, even though designed for neutrino physics, are also extremely well suited to eventually detect charged dark matter gravitinos.

The Hunt for Dark Matter Has a New, Surprising Target

Dark Matter remains one of the biggest mysteries in fundamental physics. Many theoretical proposals (axions, WIMPs) and 40 years of extensive experimental search have not explained what Dark Matter is. Several years ago, a theory that seeks to unify particle physics and gravity introduced a radically different possibility: superheavy, electrically charged gravitinos as Dark Matter candidates.

A recent paper in Physical Review Research by scientists from the University of Warsaw and the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics shows that new underground detectors, in particular the JUNO detector that will soon begin taking data, are well-suited to detect charged Dark Matter gravitinos even though they were designed for neutrino physics. Simulations that bridge elementary particle physics with advanced quantum chemistry indicate that a gravitino would leave a signal in the detector that is unique and unambiguous.

In 1981, Nobel Prize laureate Murray Gell-Mann, who introduced quarks as fundamental constituents of matter, observed that the particles of the Standard Model—quarks and leptons—appear within a purely mathematical theory formulated two years earlier: N=8 supergravity, noted for its maximal symmetry. N=8 supergravity includes, in addition to the Standard Model matter particles of spin 1/2, a gravitational sector with the graviton (of spin 2) and 8 gravitinos of spin 3/2. If the Standard Model is indeed connected to N=8 supergravity, this relationship could point toward a solution to one of the hardest problems in theoretical physics — unifying gravity with particle physics. In its spin ½ sector, N=8 supergravity contains exactly 6 quarks (u, d, c, s, t, b) and 6 leptons (electron, muon, taon and neutrinos), and it forbids any additional matter particles.

Scientists just found the hidden cosmic fingerprints of dark matter

Scientists at Rutgers and collaborators have traced the invisible dark matter scaffolding of the universe using over 100,000 Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies. By studying how these galaxies clustered across three eras shortly after the Big Bang, they mapped dark matter concentrations, uncovering cosmic “fingerprints” that reveal how galaxies grow and evolve.

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