Last year , a team of Hungarian physicistsspotted an anomalyin a radioactive disintegration . They detected a curious unexampled atom being emitted , with properties no other molecule should have . US theoretical physicist looked into this claim anddiscoveredthat not only it does not violate any old experimentation , but it could be a mailman of a cryptic 5th force .
This is not the first meter a fifth force has been postulated ( the other four being gravity , electromagnetics , strong nuclear , and debile nuclear ) . Ninety - six pct of the affair - energy substance of the universe is made of something other than ordinary matter , and the 5th force is sometimes invoke to excuse these mysterious element , call dark matter and dark muscularity .
The fifth force is also used to excuse thelimitations of the standard modelof particle physics , such as the anomalous magnetic dipole antenna second , the mensuration of which disagrees with the theoretical time value .
The Hungarian squad was looking for " dark photons , " electromagnetic bosons that interact with dismal matter . They inject protons at lithium-7 atoms , create the unstable beryllium-8 , which decay in pair of electron and antielectron ( which are anti - negatron ) . accord to the standard model , the number of observe yoke should cast as the slant between the two particles increase . But the team reported an unexpected bump of particles at about 140 ° before it continued lessen .
The blow indicates the presence of an intermediate stage , another subatomic particle , with a mass of about 17 MeV , which is equivalent to the mass of 32 electrons , and with no galvanising care . The team is confident in the sleuthing , claiming that the luck that it ’s a fluke is less than 1 in 200 billion .
While the presence of this mote is unexpected and unexplained , many experimental teams are gear up to substantiate this detection . TheDarkLightexperiment at the Jefferson Laboratory , which is looking for dark photons , will be able to essay the call within a year at most . In Europe , the LHCb experiment at CERN will also be search for this aim particle .
It is important to keep a hefty degree of skepticism until the results are confirmed , but peradventure we are about to open a window onto completely new physics .
[ H / T : Nature ]
