Despite the recent tantalizing observation of excess high-energy positrons - thought to be due to dark matter - UC Irvine researchers say we're not quite there yet.
Models predict that when dark-matter particles collide, they'll annihilate some of the time into electrons and positrons, said Manoj Kaplinghat, physics & astronomy associate professor. Scientists working on a satellite experiment called PAMELA recently identified a large excess of positrons, causing a flurry of excitement about having detected dark matter.
Kaplinghat - working with Jonathan Feng, UCI physics & astronomy professor, and Hai-Bo Yu, postdoctoral researcher - evaluated the dark-matter explanation for the PAMELA finding. "What we concluded is that the detection of so many positrons makes it unlikely they're all from dark matter," Kaplinghat said.
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