The Xenon 100 experiment is a brand new dark matter experiment, with as you might expect a 100 kilograms of Xenon fluid, at the bottom of an old mine, Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy. This is so much bigger than previous experiments that just 11 days of data, are supposed enough to rule out previous positive signals at CDMS, DAMA and CoGeNT. Contraversally this was supposed to be true, even at the lower end of the mass range for dark matter particles, which traditionally detectors with heavy elements (like Xenon) are not so sensitive to. Because Xenon experiment is so new some have worried that it isn't well calibrated yet, so Xenons first result has been high controversial. More on the Xenon experiment from around the web.
Sunday, 9 May 2010
Monday, 22 March 2010
Dark Iron, and Mirror Matter
Dark Iron it sounds like something drawf's mine in a fantasy game, not from something out of astrophysics but Mirror Matter Iron Nuclei is what Robert Foot claims. the CDMS II detector has discovered. Combined with his sighting of mirror electrons in the CDMS detector, and candidate of mirror oxygen atoms, in the solid DAMA results. Thing are looking up for mirror matter as a theory of dark matter.
The Theory of Mirror Matter, is just like in Alice in the looking glass, another physical matter which the same sort of atoms and proton and neutrons, and it own mirror-light, that is invisible to us. Ordinary Matter is left-handed with respect to some nuclear interactions. Mirror Matter would be right-handed with respect to it. Combining the two result a world that has regained its mirror symmetry. Ordinary light and mirror light might mix slightly, the only free parameter in Robert Foots, et al, theory, and each of this three detect results, is described by the same amount, about 1 part per billion, an amount weak enough to prevent mirror matter upsetting the big bang theory and making it quite invisible to telescopes.
Despite only a few researcher working on it, the Mirror Matter theory has impressively worked out, with results for its effects on large structure formulation, the early big bang, and how it forms a halo in the galaxy. The Mirror Matter, with all types of atoms, but a lack of hydrogen fuel for its stars, is thermalised as a plasma supported by the heat of regular mirror-supernova and perhaps accretion into the central black-hole of the galaxy.
If there is ever proof of mirror matter, Perhaps one day, physicists will amass enough mirror matter to create a mirror telescope and look out to a complete different alien sky, full of supernova relics and dense clouds that hold the other four-fifths the matter in the universe.
The Theory of Mirror Matter, is just like in Alice in the looking glass, another physical matter which the same sort of atoms and proton and neutrons, and it own mirror-light, that is invisible to us. Ordinary Matter is left-handed with respect to some nuclear interactions. Mirror Matter would be right-handed with respect to it. Combining the two result a world that has regained its mirror symmetry. Ordinary light and mirror light might mix slightly, the only free parameter in Robert Foots, et al, theory, and each of this three detect results, is described by the same amount, about 1 part per billion, an amount weak enough to prevent mirror matter upsetting the big bang theory and making it quite invisible to telescopes.
Despite only a few researcher working on it, the Mirror Matter theory has impressively worked out, with results for its effects on large structure formulation, the early big bang, and how it forms a halo in the galaxy. The Mirror Matter, with all types of atoms, but a lack of hydrogen fuel for its stars, is thermalised as a plasma supported by the heat of regular mirror-supernova and perhaps accretion into the central black-hole of the galaxy.
If there is ever proof of mirror matter, Perhaps one day, physicists will amass enough mirror matter to create a mirror telescope and look out to a complete different alien sky, full of supernova relics and dense clouds that hold the other four-fifths the matter in the universe.
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Super Heavy Supernova
Supernova, or Type Ia Supernova, are cosmologists favourite "standard candle" in the universe. Theory tells us exactly how bright they are (in absolute terms), so we can tell exactly how far away they, and the galaxy that contains them are. And yes they are that bright at -19.8 absolute magnitude they can outshine a galaxy for days, the light curve decay, follows the decay of Nickel-56, half life six days, the most common radioactive element in the cloud of elements the supernova shoots out, and of Cobalt-56, half life 77 days.
The theory of Type Ia Supernova is that they consist of a White Drawf that slow gains enough extra matter to get with %1 of a white drawf massive mass 1.38 Suns, at which point the pressure from the electrons in white drawf can't support the Drawf against gravity. The interior of the White drawf collapses to a neutron star, while the exterior burns carbon and oxygen into iron and nickel which are blown into space.
News today is of a paper by Richard Scalzo, look a supernova from 2007. SN2007if, weighted the supernova by calculating amount of Nickel and Cobalt produced by fraction of its mass. The heavier that star, they move Nickel produced. And he achieves a unbelievable massive result, 2.4+/-0.2 Solar masses. A whole Solar mass above the Chandrasekhar limit, 1.38 suns, for a white drawf.
The Physics World article. wonders if they result undermines the whole measurement of dark energy, which is determined part by measurement of the speed and distance of galaxies. Most of the distances of the furthest galaxies are measured by single Type 1a Supernova, the brightest standard candle there is. If the supernova are brighter than we think they are, then they are further away, and the universe is not expanding as fast as previously measured. However one or a few rare super heavy supernova, would not upset the calculation, and would show up as outlines on the graph of speed versus distance.
What then is this super heavy supernova. One theory is that its two colliding white drawf each under the 1.38 Chasdrasekhar limit, but totaling 2.1 suns, together. This would be a very rare process plus it would likely be such a catastrophic event that the fusion process would not be very regular or complete. Another explanation is of white drawf made extra heavy by a particular type of dark matter, Mirror Matter, since mirror matter is a second copy of matter, with the same interaction in mirror form, its only mirror light and electromagnetism. A combination of ordinary and mirror matter in a white drawf, might have masses up to 2.8 Suns in a white drawf, and the neutron star mass is also increase in its equation of state, moving up, but not doubling the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit. Indeed in the Year 2000 Paper in which Robert Foot et al predicted such objects he stated: Also note that this type of fake white dwarf could have a mass exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.4 solar masses: such an object would be a smoking gun for some sort of invisible clumped matter that happens to have acquired an ordinary matter core. Indeed This superheavy supernova might be the Smoking gun he was looking for. ">Richard Scalzo's Paper see a whole four such smoking guns, SN2003 fg, SN 2006gz, SN 2007if and SN 2009dc.
It does however look like SN 2007 if, as predicted by Scalzo's paper, is the result of two colliding white dwarf, as pointed to by, evidence of an existing envelope of carbon around the stars, ejected by tidal distribution of both prior to the final collapse into a supernova. This envelope is evidence by the slowing of the explosion and also by a shell of increased density in the explosion, where the in falling or blocking envelope of material encounters the out going material.
The theory of Type Ia Supernova is that they consist of a White Drawf that slow gains enough extra matter to get with %1 of a white drawf massive mass 1.38 Suns, at which point the pressure from the electrons in white drawf can't support the Drawf against gravity. The interior of the White drawf collapses to a neutron star, while the exterior burns carbon and oxygen into iron and nickel which are blown into space.
News today is of a paper by Richard Scalzo, look a supernova from 2007. SN2007if, weighted the supernova by calculating amount of Nickel and Cobalt produced by fraction of its mass. The heavier that star, they move Nickel produced. And he achieves a unbelievable massive result, 2.4+/-0.2 Solar masses. A whole Solar mass above the Chandrasekhar limit, 1.38 suns, for a white drawf.
The Physics World article. wonders if they result undermines the whole measurement of dark energy, which is determined part by measurement of the speed and distance of galaxies. Most of the distances of the furthest galaxies are measured by single Type 1a Supernova, the brightest standard candle there is. If the supernova are brighter than we think they are, then they are further away, and the universe is not expanding as fast as previously measured. However one or a few rare super heavy supernova, would not upset the calculation, and would show up as outlines on the graph of speed versus distance.
What then is this super heavy supernova. One theory is that its two colliding white drawf each under the 1.38 Chasdrasekhar limit, but totaling 2.1 suns, together. This would be a very rare process plus it would likely be such a catastrophic event that the fusion process would not be very regular or complete. Another explanation is of white drawf made extra heavy by a particular type of dark matter, Mirror Matter, since mirror matter is a second copy of matter, with the same interaction in mirror form, its only mirror light and electromagnetism. A combination of ordinary and mirror matter in a white drawf, might have masses up to 2.8 Suns in a white drawf, and the neutron star mass is also increase in its equation of state, moving up, but not doubling the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit. Indeed in the Year 2000 Paper in which Robert Foot et al predicted such objects he stated: Also note that this type of fake white dwarf could have a mass exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.4 solar masses: such an object would be a smoking gun for some sort of invisible clumped matter that happens to have acquired an ordinary matter core. Indeed This superheavy supernova might be the Smoking gun he was looking for. ">Richard Scalzo's Paper see a whole four such smoking guns, SN2003 fg, SN 2006gz, SN 2007if and SN 2009dc.
It does however look like SN 2007 if, as predicted by Scalzo's paper, is the result of two colliding white dwarf, as pointed to by, evidence of an existing envelope of carbon around the stars, ejected by tidal distribution of both prior to the final collapse into a supernova. This envelope is evidence by the slowing of the explosion and also by a shell of increased density in the explosion, where the in falling or blocking envelope of material encounters the out going material.
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Great documentary on Cosmology
Horizon tonight on the BBC, covered the mysteries of cosmology, dark matter, and dark energy, which make up much more of the universe, the conventional 'baryonic' matter we know about. It ended though with a final mystery dark flow, one a rushing of galaxy clusters at the largest scale of the universe, toward some mystery attractors, which might well be outside the now visible universe. The potential explanation, this was caused by the attraction between the then small density fluctations, just before inflation expanded the universe at a speed faster than light.
All very well presented, if a bit over the top on distracting music and big bang shaped special effects. Dark Flow however is very iffy as a real physically effect, see papers like Kiesler, who disputed the significance of the statistics, but, Edge et al which hold the effect to be real. We find out in time, once the Planck space telescope data come in, (a space telescope, with 10 times the current resolution for the cosmic background radiation), and we more detailed measurement of galaxy clusters.
Horizon, begun its episode with everything you know about the universe is wrong. But then told the usually story of dark matter and dark energy, which mainstream cosmology currently believes true. I have my own theory, of dark energy as caused by an fifth force between neutrino, which unfortunately did survive my first publication attempt. But in the next post, I attend to show why the evidence is starting to look bleak for the super-symmetric theory of dark matter.
All very well presented, if a bit over the top on distracting music and big bang shaped special effects. Dark Flow however is very iffy as a real physically effect, see papers like Kiesler, who disputed the significance of the statistics, but, Edge et al which hold the effect to be real. We find out in time, once the Planck space telescope data come in, (a space telescope, with 10 times the current resolution for the cosmic background radiation), and we more detailed measurement of galaxy clusters.
Horizon, begun its episode with everything you know about the universe is wrong. But then told the usually story of dark matter and dark energy, which mainstream cosmology currently believes true. I have my own theory, of dark energy as caused by an fifth force between neutrino, which unfortunately did survive my first publication attempt. But in the next post, I attend to show why the evidence is starting to look bleak for the super-symmetric theory of dark matter.
Friday, 29 January 2010
A possible detection of heavy-photons
Always on the lookout for strange physics, I was fascinated by a Paper by Boer and Fields at ArXiv. They analysised 7 previous experiment all which should something bizarre, A new Light Neutral Boson. There particle has a mass range of 1.5MeV to 20MeV, a lifespan of about 10^-15 to 10^-16 seconds. And strangely shows up only in experiment using photograph Emulsion. There X boson appears to be made in the decay on the neutral pion, one decay out of every thousand, and itself decays into an electron positron pair. They don't even have bad statistics ranging for 2.8 sigma to 8 sigma in the different experiments the review.
A boson is a force carrying particle, given a mass of 1 MeV, Boer's and Field's particle would mediate a short range force novel to the standard model. Looking at previous limits to a fifth force, this particle is in a range previously thought to be ruled out. This might even be the axi-photon as predicted in my axial-force theory, which escapes the those fifth force limits. The axi-photon should gain mass, and additional decay modes (usually it would decay to a neutrino and anti-neutrino) in any dense medium with heavy nuclei, such as photographic emission. However i'd only expect a mass of about 5KeV and only very rare electron pair production. Boer's and Field's particle actual pair produces some thousand times quicker than an ordinary photon. Its very notifable that there particle is only observed in old fashioned photographic emulsion, most modern experiement don't use these, and don't observe the behaviour of particles at depth in ordinary matter. Perphaps thats why this new particle has
escaped our eyes, up to now.
A boson is a force carrying particle, given a mass of 1 MeV, Boer's and Field's particle would mediate a short range force novel to the standard model. Looking at previous limits to a fifth force, this particle is in a range previously thought to be ruled out. This might even be the axi-photon as predicted in my axial-force theory, which escapes the those fifth force limits. The axi-photon should gain mass, and additional decay modes (usually it would decay to a neutrino and anti-neutrino) in any dense medium with heavy nuclei, such as photographic emission. However i'd only expect a mass of about 5KeV and only very rare electron pair production. Boer's and Field's particle actual pair produces some thousand times quicker than an ordinary photon. Its very notifable that there particle is only observed in old fashioned photographic emulsion, most modern experiement don't use these, and don't observe the behaviour of particles at depth in ordinary matter. Perphaps thats why this new particle has
escaped our eyes, up to now.
Monday, 18 January 2010
Quantum Mechanics and the Fifth Dimension
Its been a long time since I've thought about interpreting Quantum Mechanics. When i was young, I'd often read about how mysterious quantum mechanics is, about Schrödinger's Cat, which i'm sure you've all heard of. And about quantum entanglement, sometimes known as spooky action at distance, a name which captures the mystery but not the effect very well. Quantum mechanics is very mathematical, so it wasn't until I was studying it at my final year at university, that I could understand it well enough, to try to make the connection between the mathematics of quantum mechanics, which works very well at predicting the outcomes of experiment, and some physical mechanism, some process that describes how the universe works. And so back then, I surveyed whats known as the interpretations of quantum mechanics, and plumped for the Many Worlds Interpretion, that the universe actually has many parallel universes, in which random events happenned in all the other fashions that could have happened. Extreme though the idea sounds, I basically haven't changed my view, since I passed my PhD.
They were, and still are, basically four known Interpretions of Quantum Mechanics, or otherwise counting three Interpretions and one experimentially disproven theory that behaved more like Newtons physics, called hidden variables.
In the Copenhagen Interpretation, when an observer measures a system, the system instantly decides which of many possible results it will show the observer, and then remains the same, until somehow disturbed. This is bizarre of course, since measuring could just mean looking at, and it really does seem to matter if there is a eye looking or not. Does is an eye somehow emit a darkenning reverse light backwards in time, that causing the observed system to jump to some definite state. In the Transactional Interpretation, thats exactly what happens. So called advanced waves, travel backwards in time, from some fated, utimately fixed future, fixing a definite state for all obversation along the way. Unfortantely for gamblers and pundits, the Transactional Interpretation, doesn't say what the observed state will actally be, any better than odinary quantum mechanics.
The only other known Interpretation proved mathematically viable, is the Many Worlds Interpretation. In which, every act of storing information, such as looking and recording an experiment, causes the observer (or recorder), to split into different versions, each one recording one of the possible outcomes of the experiment. Each of the recordeds might as well be in different universes for all they can now say about the result that didn't happen in its record. The ordinary math of QM, keeps track of all these parallel outcomes, or parallel universes, and quantum computers, seem to show, that the universe, or multiverse, really does do enough calculation, to know all the other possible outcomes of any experiment. And yes that means, all those what would have happen if the germans won World War II, etc, and all does sub cases like, the german won the war and Hitler was assassinated on what ever perticular day you care to choose.
The Many Worlds Interpetation is great for science fiction authors, because even the very unlikely, and therefore much a thinner volumes of the multiverse, happen somewhere, such as Aliens landing on Earth during World War II. It uses the same mathematics as ordinary quantum mechanics. But although space (and time) are still three dimensionally (plus one for time make 4-d), keeping track of all those possiblities very rapidly needs very large dimensions, of state vector, with one row (or column) describing each possibility.
So I found what In Müllers and Fosters recent paper, fascinated me. They investigated what happens if you try to describe an universe with two distinct dimensions of time. Amazing if you start with a classical (I.E. Newton like math, and not quantum mechanics), universe with three dimensions of space and two dimensions of time, for approprate conditions of the extra dimension of time, produces the maths of Quantum Mechanics and Field Theory almost perfectly. Sci-fi authors have often used the expression sideways in time, to describe parallel universes, but this is the first time as far as I know that mathematics has actually described quantum mechanical parallel universe as sideways in time. For MWI and Sci-fi enthusasts this is great, as is the fact that if the temperature of the extra time dimensional was to cool down, the value of planks constant would vary, possibly leading to regimes in which communication between parallel universes could happen. However for physicists they may a lot more work to do. To get an average value for a quantum variable in the two-times description, you have to integrate over the entire eternity of the spare time dimension, which somehow seems to long, and not local enough, and as the Authors emit, only sometimes mathematically possible. Perphaps descriptions more localised in the spare time dimension are possible. I'd also like to see, if starting with both time dimensions on the same footing, and then switch to polar coordinates would work. Then you'd have one dimension represent the total temporal distance from the big bang singularity, the radial dimension, and one polar time, a circle running from 0 to 2pi, which might better fit the wave nature of matter.
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
The Demise of the LSP
Astronomers have known there was something missing from universe for years, Zwicky first calculated how stars should move under gravity in a galaxy back in 1933, and found there was far more matter in a galaxy than could be accounted for by stars. But it wasn't until the 1990s that astronomers really begin to believe in dark matter. But now finally experiments are starting to get close to discovering what it all the mysterious missing matter really is. And looking more and more like it isn't a LSP.
The LSP, lightest super-symmetric particle, is super-symmetries candidate for a dark matter particle. Its stable, once super-symmetrics has a new symmetry, R-parity, add to it, in an Ad-hoc ways. Its dark, provide a non-charge particle, happens to be the lightest, and its made in the right ammount, once super-symmetry is ad-hoc turned to the right masses. The LSP has been
physicists first guess at what dark matter is for some twenty years. Many due, to physicists love
of syper-symmetry and super string theory. See Peter Woit's not even wrong for a criticism (or demolition) of Super-String theory
What the LSP isn't, is seen. Perphaps this is not surprising for a dark particle, but evidence for of dark matter is starting to arrive. The DAMA experiment, found evidence of Dark Matter in thermal motion through the solar system at 8 sigma levels (5 sigma is a good detection level, 8 is much better). All the other dark matter detect should nothing. The LSP just wouldn't fit
the combination of seen at DAMA and not elsewhere.
The LSP is supposedly majorana particle, it is its own anti-particle. This means that two LSP's would annihilate if brought together, producing high energy normal particles doing so. This was fine in the very early universe, it helped remove enough of the them to get, the amount of LSP that exist turned, to the 20% of the universe, we need for dark matter. But, in the modern universe, where-ever dark matter clumps together they should be signals of this annihilation, in particular there should be anti-protons at high energies. These just haven't been seen, despite evidence for high energy positrons at high energies in cosmic rays. Phenomenologist's started talking about leptophilic or hadrophobic LSPs, inventing new theory turning the LSP in something that doesn't annihilate into anti-protons.
LSP annihilation also means that dense enough clump would start shining, forming so called dark stars in the early universe, these stars are actually bright and super-massive, and again so far not seen. When they run out of the dark matter to annihilate they would clasps straight to blacks holes, froming immediately sized black holes, in the modern universe, which again aren't seen.
These combination of three non-observations of LSPs is starting to look very bad for both, the LSP as a dark matter candidate, and for super-symmetry as a theory. If the LHC now happily running with its 3.5 TeV Beams for the next two years, finds no signal of LSPs things will start to look very dark for the LSP.
The LSP, lightest super-symmetric particle, is super-symmetries candidate for a dark matter particle. Its stable, once super-symmetrics has a new symmetry, R-parity, add to it, in an Ad-hoc ways. Its dark, provide a non-charge particle, happens to be the lightest, and its made in the right ammount, once super-symmetry is ad-hoc turned to the right masses. The LSP has been
physicists first guess at what dark matter is for some twenty years. Many due, to physicists love
of syper-symmetry and super string theory. See Peter Woit's not even wrong for a criticism (or demolition) of Super-String theory
What the LSP isn't, is seen. Perphaps this is not surprising for a dark particle, but evidence for of dark matter is starting to arrive. The DAMA experiment, found evidence of Dark Matter in thermal motion through the solar system at 8 sigma levels (5 sigma is a good detection level, 8 is much better). All the other dark matter detect should nothing. The LSP just wouldn't fit
the combination of seen at DAMA and not elsewhere.
The LSP is supposedly majorana particle, it is its own anti-particle. This means that two LSP's would annihilate if brought together, producing high energy normal particles doing so. This was fine in the very early universe, it helped remove enough of the them to get, the amount of LSP that exist turned, to the 20% of the universe, we need for dark matter. But, in the modern universe, where-ever dark matter clumps together they should be signals of this annihilation, in particular there should be anti-protons at high energies. These just haven't been seen, despite evidence for high energy positrons at high energies in cosmic rays. Phenomenologist's started talking about leptophilic or hadrophobic LSPs, inventing new theory turning the LSP in something that doesn't annihilate into anti-protons.
LSP annihilation also means that dense enough clump would start shining, forming so called dark stars in the early universe, these stars are actually bright and super-massive, and again so far not seen. When they run out of the dark matter to annihilate they would clasps straight to blacks holes, froming immediately sized black holes, in the modern universe, which again aren't seen.
These combination of three non-observations of LSPs is starting to look very bad for both, the LSP as a dark matter candidate, and for super-symmetry as a theory. If the LHC now happily running with its 3.5 TeV Beams for the next two years, finds no signal of LSPs things will start to look very dark for the LSP.
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