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Space station's antimatter detector finds its first evidence of dark matter
Scientists say a $2 billion antimatter-hunting experiment on the International Space Station has detected its first hints of dark matter, the mysterious stuff that makes up almost a quarter of the universe.
The evidence from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, revealed Wednesday at Europe's CERN particle physics lab, is based on an anomalous "bump" in the cosmic production of anti-electrons, also known as positrons. The AMS research team can't yet completely rule out other explanations for the bump, but the fresh findings provide the best clues yet as to the nature of dark matter.
"Over the coming months, AMS will be able to tell us conclusively whether these positrons are a signal for dark matter, or whether they have some other origin," Samuel Ting, an astrophysicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who leads the international AMS collaboration, said in a CERN news release.
The results are to be published in Physical Review Letters and will be discussed during a NASA news conference at 1:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.
http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/03/17585037-space-stations-antimatter-detector-finds-its-first-evidence-of-dark-matter?lite
The evidence from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, revealed Wednesday at Europe's CERN particle physics lab, is based on an anomalous "bump" in the cosmic production of anti-electrons, also known as positrons. The AMS research team can't yet completely rule out other explanations for the bump, but the fresh findings provide the best clues yet as to the nature of dark matter.
"Over the coming months, AMS will be able to tell us conclusively whether these positrons are a signal for dark matter, or whether they have some other origin," Samuel Ting, an astrophysicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who leads the international AMS collaboration, said in a CERN news release.
The results are to be published in Physical Review Letters and will be discussed during a NASA news conference at 1:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.
http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/03/17585037-space-stations-antimatter-detector-finds-its-first-evidence-of-dark-matter?lite
BBC article:
In a paper to be published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the AMS team reports the observation of a slight excess of positrons in the positron-electron count - an outcome expected of these dark matter annihilations.
The group also says the positrons fall on the AMS from all directions in the sky with no particular variation over time.
This is important because specific locations or timing variations in the signal could indicate a more conventional source for the particles, such as a pulsar (a type of neutron star) rather than dark matter.
...
The behaviour of the positron excess across this energy spectrum fits with the researchers' expectations. However, the "smoking gun" signature would be to see a rise in this ratio and then a dramatic fall. This has yet to be observed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22016504
The group also says the positrons fall on the AMS from all directions in the sky with no particular variation over time.
This is important because specific locations or timing variations in the signal could indicate a more conventional source for the particles, such as a pulsar (a type of neutron star) rather than dark matter.
...
The behaviour of the positron excess across this energy spectrum fits with the researchers' expectations. However, the "smoking gun" signature would be to see a rise in this ratio and then a dramatic fall. This has yet to be observed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22016504
