China hunts for the universe

Hunting in the darkness of the universe, hunters don't know what their prey looks like or when it will appear.

Dark matter is one of the greatest mysteries of modern physics.(Illustrations: Wallpaper)

The most obvious trace they had was the numbers and graphs that downloaded the computer inside the white building of Purple Mountain Observatory in central Nanjing, the capital of China's eastern Jiangsu province. Computers receive data from the Dark Matter Exploration Satellite (DAMPE), located 500 km from Earth.

" Dark matter must be there. But we don't know if I'm lucky enough to find it, or see its shape ," said Chang Jin, a scientist who directed China's DAMPE program, tissue. describe the search for the missing mass of the universe.

According to Xinhua, scientists believe that only about 5% of the total mass - the energy of the universe comes from ordinary matter consisting of protons, neutrons and electrons. The rest is made up of dark matter and dark energy . Dark matter like ghosts in the universe, not emitting or reflecting electromagnetic radiation enough to directly observe, is one of the greatest mysteries of modern science.

The hypothesis that scientists propose to explain the missing mass of the universe as well as the strange bending of light from distant galaxies, dark matter is widely accepted in the physical community. although its existence has never been proven specifically.

According to Chang, understanding dark matter can give us a clearer view of the past - the future of galaxies and the universe, a revolutionary discovery in the field of physics and science. learn the universe. The universe contains its own secrets and its secret hunters need a good tool to explore.

DAMPE satellite wallet scientists, nicknamed " Wukong ", with sharp swords can trace the universe's " specter " by using the widest observation spectrum ever and device The highest energy resolution in the world.

Dark Wukong material exploration satellite of China.(Photo: University of Geneva)

This satellite was successfully launched into orbit on December 17, 2015. After the launch, Chang is always worried about whether the 76,000 small satellite detectors work well, whether the data is reliable, the storage and analysis capabilities of the computer meet the demand.

The fabrication cost of DAMPE is only 1/7 FERMI Space Telescope of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) and 1/20 of AMS-02 particle detectors on the International Space Station. Chang insists that the satellite will be worth the investment cost.

When Chang started working at Purple Mountain Observatory in 1992, he chose to focus on observing high energy electrons and gamma rays, because no scientist ever did this work before. However, work requires expensive equipment that China cannot meet in the 1990s. Therefore, Chang developed a new, lower-cost method to observe high-energy electrons and gamma rays.

Chang convinced American scientists to apply his observation method in the ATIC program. They dropped a balloon mounted research device in Antarctica to measure cosmic ray energy and components from the end of 2000 to the beginning of 2001.

Data analysis revealed an unexpectedly high amount of electron surplus, which cannot be explained by the standard model of cosmic ray origin, in which electrons are accelerated from sources such as supernova remnants and later that passes through the galaxy.

Chang believed that this surplus could be the result of the suppression of dark matter. In the following years, he and his colleagues improved the equipment and research methods, and conducted three observations above Antarctica.

Chang spent nearly a decade analyzing data. His wife remembers him like a madman at home, always muttering strange numbers. When a new idea came up, he rushed to the lab to write a program to calculate.

ATIC program data does not exclude effects from other celestial bodies. During the time when the balloon is hovering in the middle of the atmosphere, high-energy particles will collide with the air and create many disturbances. Chang thinks that a satellite should be launched into space to see more clearly.

Chang applied to deploy the dark matter research satellite in 2002, but was unresponsive. He tried again in 2003 but still failed. During those years, Chang and his research team participated in the development of tonnage on the Shenzhou spacecraft and China's Hang Nga exploration equipment, thereby gaining a lot of fame.

Chang persevered in conducting dark matter research. He performed countless calculations and experiments, and also upgraded technologies. In 2008, Chang published a prestigious journal Nature, presenting the results of the discovery of an unusually high energy electron surplus. This finding is seen as one of the most important research achievements in physics that year.

Experts believe that if confirmed, observation will be the first evidence of the annihilation of dark matter particles that humans find. The discovery led to a global race to find dark matter.

In 2011, China launched a program to develop a series of scientific satellites, including DAMPE. Chang's dream became a reality. " Dark matter is really mysterious. The most interesting thing about me is that we know almost nothing about it. When will we find dark matter? No one can say it clearly. Maybe tomorrow, maybe a few years, "Chang said. He believed DAMPE would create some interesting findings about dark matter or other astronomical phenomena.