Detecting Dark Matter at CERN: How the Higgs Boson opens up a ‘portal to new physics’

In 2012, scientists at the international CERN collaboration announced the discovery of the elusive Higgs Boson particle. The mystery particle is believed to be a fundamental element of particle physics, which is a manifestation of the Higgs Field and gives other particles their mass. Theorised in the 1970s by Nobel laureate Peter Higgs, the Higgs Boson managed to explain the effects of the Higgs Field even if no one had ever seen one. And up until the moment of its incredible discovery at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – a 17-mile-long particle accelerator under Geneva, Switzerland – the Higgs Boson was only a theoretical particle within the so-called Standard Model of physics.

The same can be said about the hunt for dark matter – a mysterious and undetectable substance scattered throughout the cosmos.

When astrophysicists look at the movement of rotating galaxies, the gravitational effects of all the visible matter contained within them does not add up.

Because of this, scientists are certain a form of matter, which does not interact with electromagnetic radiation, gives these galaxies more mass than we can detect.

In essence, dark matter does not reflect or emit any light and scientists are not entirely sure what it is or how it works.

But if the discovery of the Higgs Boson seven years ago has proven anything, there is still room for scientists to make groundbreaking discoveries about the fundamental nature of the universe.

The Higgs could be a direct portal to how dark matter might interact with the Standard Model

Sarah Louise Williams, Murray Edwards College

Particle physicist Sarah Louise Williams, Murray Edwards College at the University of Cambridge, was one of the scientists working on the A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS (ATLAS) collider at CERN during the 2012 Higgs discovery.

The physicist has now told Express.co.uk the monumental finding has “opened a portal to new physics” through which scientists hope to learn more about dark matter and what may be hidden beyond the accepted Standard Model of physics.

All of the matter around is built from tiny, subatomic particles, which fit within the Standard Model – a widely accepted categorisation of fermions, like electrons and quarks, and bosons like the Higgs or photons.

But Dr Williams said there are other theories beyond the Standard Model, such as Supersymmetry, which many scientists hope to prove at CERN.

The particle physicist said: “A lot of people are looking beyond the Standard Model and within that community, there are lots and lots of different theories.

“Supersymmetry is a very popular one but there are also lots of people looking outside of Supersymmetry for more exotic theories.”

In particle physics, Supersymmetry works as an extension of the Standard Model meant to “fill out the gaps”.

In this theory, each of the particles in the Standard Model is paired with a  partner particle of sorts to explain the relationship between fermions and bosons.

If true, Supersymmetry could be used to explain the characteristics of dark matter and, in theory, particle collisions at the LHC should be able to produce these particles.

But this is not the only concept explored at CERN and the list of plausible theories is long.

Dr Williams said: “The Higgs could be a direct portal to how dark matter might interact with the Standard Model or it could be something that heavier particles decay into.”

Whatever the case may be, Dr Williams said the scientists at CERN have a “long road ahead” of them before any conclusive discovery can be made.

Right now, the LHC and ATLAS experiment are undergoing crucial maintenance, repairs and upgrades in time for the summer of 2021 when the LHC will restart for its third run – Run 3.

And future upgrades scheduled for 2026 will increase the number of proton collisions at the LHC from a mind-boggling 40 million per second to 150 million per second.

The more than tripled number of collisions is expected to create much more particles, giving CERN’s scientists more data than ever before to analyse.

Dr Williams said: “In the years to come there will be so many results coming out and a lot of these complicated measurements can take a long time.”

The LHC’s runs last three years at a time and are always followed by a two-year-long period of upgrades.

According to Dr Williams, the amount of raw data collected at ATLAS during Run 2 was so vast, scientists have so far only reached “the tip of the iceberg” and are still sifting through the treasure trove of information.

Source: Read Full Article