Mysterious radio pulses detected high above Antarctica may be evidence of an exotic new particle, scientists say
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The clarification shows a strange signal on the Antarctic horizon. | Credit: Robert Lea (created with Kanfa)
The cosmic particle detector has discovered a set of strange radio signals from ice in Antarctica, which currently challenges the interpretation. Scientists say the results can hint on the presence of new molecules, or interactions between the particles that are currently unknown to physics.
Mystery Radio pulses It was captured about 25 miles (40 km) above the ground by the experience of the transit antenna (Anita). Anita is a series of tools that float AntarcticaBalloons carry them with the goal of discovering high energy (UHe) Neutrons And other Cosmic Because it slaves the Earth from space.
Anita usually picks up signals when they are reflected on the ice of Antarctica, but these impulses were different, coming from the bottom of the horizon in a direction that cannot be explained by particle physics.
“It is an interesting problem, because we still do not already have an explanation for what are these abnormal cases,” Anita team member and Pennsylvania State University researcher Stephanie Wesil He said in a statement. “What we know is that they probably do not represent neutrons.”
The radio waves discovered by Anita were directed at very slope angles, 30 degrees below the surface of the ice.
This means that the signal had to pass through thousands of miles of rocks before reaching Anita. This should have led to reactions that left the radio pulses very faded so that it could not be discovered, but this was clearly not happening here.
Anita gets a hint from a new cosmic ghost
The clear suspect immediately this sign is neutrons. After all, it is the signature of these particles that Anita designed to capture. Neutronat is informally known as “ghost molecules” due to the fact that they do not carry any fees and are almost without a block.
Thus, as neutrons – also the most abundant molecules in universe -broadcasting the universe at speeds close to light after being launched by strong cosmic events, they can “pose” through matter, barely interact.
This means that they remain unchanged after passing many optical years, which makes them unbelievable “messengers” that can teach scientists about the events that they launched. However, this ghost nature also makes The neutrons are very difficult to discover.
“You have a billion neutrons that pass through the mini image at any moment, but the neutrons do not really react,” Wesel said. “Therefore, this is the problem of the sword with a minimal.
Anita transit antenna experience uses balloons to carry highly sensitive tools above the ice in Antarctica. | Credit: Stephanie Wesel / Pennsylvania State
Fortunately, hunting neutrino while passing through the ground can reveal a wealth of information.
Therefore, designing advanced experiences and taking them into remote areas of the earth or setting them Deep Hoping for a cosmic ghost is worth effort for scientists like Wissel.
“We use radio detectors to try to build large neutrino telescopes so that we can follow the expected event rate very low,” Wesel said.
Such a tool, Anita floats 25 miles on the ice of Antarctica, away from the possibility of other intertwined signals, and causes the so -called “ice bath”.
“We point out our antennas down in the ice and search for the neutrons that interact in the ice, resulting from radio emissions that we can then feel on our detectors,” Wsel.
Explanation of the powerful universal event neutrons in the ground. | Credit: icecube/nasa
This ice shower is caused by a certain “flavor” of the neutrino called Tao neutronsThat strikes ice and interacts to create a daughter’s particle called Tao Lepton. This quickly decomposes to the “air shower” that contains smaller molecules.
The distinction between the air shower and the ice shower reveals the properties of the initial interactive particle and the origin of this particle. Wissel compares the strategy to use the sparkling ball angle to track it to its first track.
However, since the angle of these newly discovered signals is more severe than the current models of physics allow, the process of decline is not possible in this case.
And the most confused thing, other neutrino detectors like Icecube experience and Pierre Auger Observatory He did not discover anything that could explain these signals and the air shower directed towards the upward.
Consequently, Anita researchers announced that the signals were “anomalous”, and they determined that they were not the result of the neutrons. Thus, signals can be indicative of something new, and perhaps even a hint Dark materialThe mysterious cosmic “things” that represent about 85 % of the issue content in the universe.
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Additional answers may be forced to wait for the “next big thing” in the discovery of neutrino, the largest and most sensitive load of the PUEO, which is currently being developed by Pennsylvania.
“I think that some of the interesting radio spreading happens near the ice and also near the horizon that I do not fully understand, but we certainly discovered many of these, and we were unable to find any of these as well,” Wesel said. “So, it’s one of these long -term puzzles, and I am excited because when we fly Boyu, we will get better sensitivity.
“In principle, we must pick up more abnormal cases, and we may actually understand what it is. We may also discover neutrons, which will be in some ways more exciting.”
The team’s search was published online in March in the magazine Physical review messages.
