EPFL scientists have picked up an atypical photon emission in X-rays coming from space, and say it could be evidence for the existence of a particle of dark matter.
Could there finally be tangible evidence for the existence of dark matter in the Universe? After sifting through reams of X-ray data, scientists in EPFL’s Laboratory of Particle Physics and Cosmology (LPPC) and Leiden University believe they could have identified the signal of a particle of dark matter. This substance, which up to now has been purely hypothetical, is run by none of the standard models of physics other than through the gravitational force. Their research will be published next week in Physical Review Letters.
When physicists study the dynamics of galaxies and the movement of stars, they are confronted with a mystery. If they only take visible matter into account, their equations simply don’t add up: the elements that can be observed are not sufficient to explain the rotation of objects and the existing gravitational forces. There is something missing. From this they deduced that there must be an invisible kind of matter that does not interact with light, but does, as a whole, interact by means of the gravitational force. Called “dark matter”, this substance appears to make up at least 80% of the Universe.
Arxiv – Detection of An Unidentified Emission Line in the Stacked X-ray spectrum of Galaxy Clusters
Nextbigfuture mentioned this x-ray emission detection in July. Randall Mills of the controversial Blacklight power had claimed that the 3.51 keV xray emission detected by the NASA Chandra x-ray space telescope supports his hydrino claim.
Mills had his paper out July 2014
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