After first theorizing actions by physicists in the suburbs of Chicago 45 years ago they quickly became a strong candidate to explain dark matter. All this time, however, the ultra-small particles remained hypothetical. Now a team of astrophysicists has suggested that actions may be responsible for an excess of X-ray emissions seen as a result of a group of neutron stars in our galaxy.
The stars – called the “Magnificent Seven” – are neutron stars. which emit low-frequency X-rays from their surfaces. Neutron stars are the extremely dense afterlife of collapsing stars. They possess powerful magnetic fields and, as their name suggests, are largely composed of neutrons. The new research, published this week in the journal Physical Review Letters, the focus is on a yet inexplicable bunch of high-frequency X-rays that give the seven stars.
“It is possible that evidence for new physics is evidence for actions, which will transform our understanding of nature in a very large way, which is difficult to convey,” said Benjamin Safdi, particle physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and lead author of the recent newspaper, said in a phone call. ‘This discovery may come with this paper; it could come 500 years from now. This is how science works, and so there is no guarantee of immediate gratification. ”
The biggest uncertainty about actions revolve around their existence. In other words, there is a consensus among physicists about the properties that these theoretical particles would possess if they existed. One such feature is that actions will interact very poorly, and rarely, with ordinary matter. Instead of scattering the case in the star, the actions would simply escape. The other is that actions in the presence of magnetic fields can turn into photons – such as those surrounding the seven neutron stars.
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The researchers compared the possible behavior of the actions with neutrinos, a similar small particle (although one whose existence is proven) that rarely interacts with other matter. Neutrons within neutron stars are known to collide and emit neutrinos, which is the most important way to cool the star over time.
The team’s suggestion is that actions can be created in the centers of neutron stars, where it is much warmer and more energetic than the star’s surface. Just as neutrons in those dense, super-hot region produce neutrinos through their collisions, actions can also be produced. The difference is that the action in the presence of a magnetic field can convert into a photon. The photon’s fusing energy would be observable on the X-ray spectrum, specifically in the high frequency range. Previous data were collected from these high-frequency waves, but only as a by-product of the main topic: the low-frequency X-ray waves coming from the stars’ surfaces.
“We do not claim to have discovered the action yet, but we do say that the extra x-rays can be explained by actions,” said Raymond Co, an astrophysicist at the University of Minnesota and a co-author of the paper. a press release. “It’s an exciting discovery of the excess in the X – rays, and it’s an exciting possibility that already matches our interpretation of actions.”
Safdi hopes that future attention can be given to a nearby white dwarf, a degenerate star that is less compact and has a much cooler surface temperature than a neutron star. Since the white dwarfs do not emit low-frequency X-rays from their surface, no X-ray telescope has ever had so much reason to be. in one way.
“There really is nothing that should appear on any X-ray wavelength,” Safdi said. “When we see a signal, we can have much more confidence that the actions we see.”