Next generation gravitational wave detectors can detect dark matter

Gravitational astronomy is a relatively new discipline that has opened many doors for astronomers to understand how the vast and violent end of the scale works. It has been used to map black hole mergers and other extreme phenomena in the universe. Now, a team at Caltech’s Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics believe they have a new application for the new technology — restricting dark matter’s properties.

As we have reported many times before, dark matter is the matter that makes up most of the mass in the universe, but cannot be seen by normal electromagnetic waves, making it literally impossible for us to “see” as we normally think. . However, these particles, if they really exist, interact with another fundamental force, gravity.

This makes them a potential target for gravitational wave (GW) observatory studies. However, there are several assumptions underlying this study. First, dark matter is a “macro” phenomenon, meaning it is not subject to the world of quantum mechanics. It is likely that gravitational waves only work on what the authors refer to as superheavy dark matter, which in their own context refers to the mass of matter.

What Are Gravitational Waves Really?

Interferometers designed to detect gravitational paths can potentially pick up signals influenced by particles heavy enough to fall into this category. In particular, these particles will affect three different properties of the gravitational wave, two of which the authors have calculated for the first time.

First, there’s the Doppler effect, which every high school physics student learns about, usually through the example of how ambulances make different sounds when coming towards and leaving you. The same phenomenon occurs in gravitational waves, as they affect space-time in the same way depending on how their source moves relative to the GW observatory.

For a more nuanced look at how dark matter can affect GWs, the authors consider Shapiro and Einstein latency. The Shapiro delay is the variation in how long it takes for a signal to travel from one end of the interferometer to the other. This can be changed depending on whether there is spacetime compression anywhere along the interferometer arm. On the other hand, Einstein delay is the actual delay of the clock that the interferometer uses to measure gravitational waves. However, this effect disappears in certain configurations of the interferometer.

The conclusion the authors draw from all this is that modern GW observatories expected to be operational soon, such as the Quantum Entanglement of Space-Time Gravity (GQuEST) experiment at Caltech, should be able to detect transitioning dark matter, if any. large enough to be considered “super heavy”. But there is another nuance in the article that is intriguing and points to a potentially deeper understanding of the underlying physics.

Physics students all over the world are taught about the fundamental forces – gravity, electromagnetism, the strong and weak nuclear forces. But perhaps there is a fifth force that we have yet to see. This force, known as the Yukawa interaction, is the theoretical fifth fundamental force that operates between dark matter and the more traditional types of particles known as baryons in theoretical physics, which classical physics students are more familiar with. So far there has been no conclusive proof of the existence of this power, but some experiments have begun to work to limit it. The same GW detectors, if any, could play a role in putting it under greater control, according to the article.

Finding a new fundamental force and solving a mystery that has plagued theoretical physics for decades is a heavy burden for a relatively new science. But that’s exactly how science progresses — using new technologies to further quantify and prove or disprove new theories. Now, after a long hiatus, it’s time for gravitational astronomy to shine. Source