A fifth dimension can finally explain the mysteries of dark matter.
5D Everything
A team of German and Spanish scientists say they have found a ‘natural explanation’ for dark matter and other unsolved scientific mysteries – but their work depends on the existence of a new theoretical subatomic particle and a whole fifth dimension of the universe.
The new particle, an as yet undiscovered type of fermion, would be able to traverse this new dimension and bind dark matter to the light substance that forms everything in the universe that we can see or touch, Motherboard reports, in a way that does not contradict any of the other models we have about how dark matter behaves. It seems a bit far-fetched – physicists create new rules for the universe to explain their own theory – but if it expands, it could significantly improve our understanding of the cosmos.
“Unique window”
The scientists explained to Motherboard that this new particle would probably be similar to the Higgs Boson and work with it, but that it would be too heavy to detect with the current generation of particle accelerators and collisions.
But if we assume that the particle and the fifth dimension it navigates exist, it is a ‘unique window’ in dark matter, according to the team’s article, published in The European Physical Journal C last month.
‘If this heavy particle exists, it will necessarily connect the visible matter we know and which we have studied in detail with the constituents of the dark matter, assuming that dark matter consists of fundamental fermions, which are in the extra dimension live ”said a member of the team Motherboard.
Now what
Instead of a tangible way to prove that this mysterious particle or the fifth dimension exists, the researchers said Motherboard they hope other scientists keep their model in mind as they continue to study particle physics and cosmology.
“It could eventually also lead to an interesting cosmological history of the universe and could lead to the production of gravitational waves,” the team said. Motherboard. “This is an interesting line of research that we plan to follow in the coming months.”
READ MORE: Scientists have proposed a new particle that is a portal to a fifth dimension [Motherboard]
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