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A group of scientists from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) has conducted direct observation of the Migdal effect using high-tech equipment, which could be an important step towards unraveling the nature of dark matter, according to information from the Chinese scientific publication “Keji Zhibao”.
Dark matter, as noted by the publication, is a mysterious substance that makes up about 85% of all the material mass in the Universe. This substance does not emit light or heat but has a significant impact on the movement of galaxies due to its powerful gravity. Researchers have long focused on hypothetical massive weakly interacting particles.
In recent years, more and more researchers have begun to take an interest in lighter dark matter particles. However, according to the newspaper, the interaction of these particles with ordinary matter is extremely minimal — the signals that can be detected are significantly below the sensitivity of modern detectors, making traditional detection methods less applicable.
The Migdal effect, predicted by Soviet physicist Arkadi Migdal in 1939, offers hope for overcoming existing obstacles. This quantum phenomenon describes a situation where, during a collision of a particle with an atomic nucleus, part of the energy can be transferred to an electron outside the nucleus, potentially leading to its ejection.
According to the publication, scientists developed a specialized gas pixel detector to observe the Migdal effect. As a result, they successfully detected this effect, achieving statistical significance exceeding five standard deviations, which meets the criteria for a “discovery” in the field of physics.
“This not only confirms a prediction made 87 years ago within the framework of quantum mechanics but also provides important experimental evidence for the search for lighter dark matter particles in our Universe,” the newspaper reports.
According to Professor Zheng Yanghen of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the leading authors of the article published in the journal Nature, future experiments in the search for dark matter may utilize this effect to enhance signal accuracy and expand the detection range of dark matter.
