In a paradigm shift, researchers at the University of Southampton are proposing a new, fundamental and 'crazy' candidate particle for the elusive dark matter that makes up 85% of the mass of the universe.
Their proposed particle is light and has a mass of about 0.02% that of an electron. It does not interact with light, but interacts surprisingly strongly with normal matter.
Interaction with matter has been believed to be feeble, if at all existing, in all hypothesis of dark matter.
Another point of contrast with prevailing theories is that the new particle candidate may not even penetrate earth's atmosphere, says the study.
This could explain why no one has managed to detect it.
The team plans a space experiment with the Macroscopic quantum resonators (MAQRO) consortium to detect the particles.
A nanoparticle held in space and exposed directly to the flow of dark matter, will be pushed downstream and the resonators will pick this movement to reveal the nature of the dark matter particle, if it exists.
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