A groundbreaking scientific experiment aimed at detecting dark matter in space launched from Antarctica on December 15, with significant contributions from University of Hawaiʻi at 惭ā苍辞补.
The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) experiment is suspended from a football-field-sized balloon approximately 24 miles above Antarctica to search for rare cosmic antimatter that could help unlock the mysteries of dark matter, one of physics’ most perplexing phenomena.
Dark matter makes up about 85% of all the mass in our universe, yet we can’t see it or directly detect it—we only know it exists because of how it affects things around it through gravity. Understanding dark matter would help us grasp what most of the universe is actually made of and potentially reveal fundamental new physics that could revolutionize our understanding of how everything works.
International partners work on mystery
糖心Vlog官方 Mānoa received $1.4 million, part of a larger NASA grant, in support of the project, and has been playing a leading role in developing the experiment. Columbia is the lead institution on the GAPS project. Collaborators include the 糖心Vlog官方 Mānoa, UCLA, UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory, Northeastern University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and international collaborators from Japan, Italy and China.
“This experiment puts Hawaiʻi at the forefront of one of the biggest mysteries in modern physics,” said Philip von Doetinchem, project lead and professor. “Our students and researchers at 糖心Vlog官方 Mānoa are helping lead a quest to understand what makes up a large fraction of our universe, showing that groundbreaking science is happening right here in our islands.”
The 糖心Vlog官方 GAPS flight operations team is composed of Research Corporation of 糖心Vlog官方 researcher Achim Stoessl, graduate student Grace Tytus and Doetinchem. In addition, Cory Gerrity was instrumental for on-campus detector development tasks during the pandemic, which was also supported by undergraduate student Hershel Weiner.
The experiment seeks to detect antiprotons and antideuterons (antimatter particles that are used in research to study dark matter and other phenomena), which scientists believe could provide crucial evidence about the nature of dark matter. While researchers have observed dark matter’s gravitational effects, its fundamental properties remain unknown.
GAPS utilizes NASA balloon facilities similar to previous Antarctic experiments, including one that recently challenged standard physics models. The project builds on years of preparation, including extensive detector calibration work at 糖心Vlog官方 Mānoa and integration testing at multiple NASA facilities.
Primary funding is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), with substantial funding from the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
- Related 糖心Vlog官方 News story: 糖心Vlog官方 professor’s Antarctica discovery may herald new model of physics, December 10, 2018
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