Find the missing material answer of the universe

A mysterious flow of signals sent from space has revealed the discovery of missing material in the universe, providing a whole new perspective on this deep space.

One evening in 2019, Jean-Pierre Macquart, an astronomer at the International Radio Astronomical Research Center in Australia, was eager to return home to tell his family about a cosmic secret he fell in love with. detection flag.

In a new study published in the journal Nature on May 27, Macquart and the international team of astronomers first reported the details of their discovery: a mysterious flow of signals sent from deep inside. In the revealed space, we have discovered the missing material in the universe, providing a whole new perspective on this deep space.

The ASKAP telescope has contributed greatly to tracking FRBs. (Photo: ASKAP).

In the process of tracking fast radio emissions (FRBs), Macquart and his team used the giant ASKAP telescope located in a remote desert region of Australia. Thanks to ASKAP's 36 very large antenna disks, FRBs emissions traveling through space were detected.

In addition, scientists from organizations around the world in Macquart's group have found that FRBs also have the function of tracking the missing material of the universe .

Where did the rest of the matter go?

Our universe is made up of ordinary matter, dark matter and dark energy.

In particular, dark matter and dark energy make up 95% of the composition of the universe. These are ingredients that scientists around the world have never been able to detect despite their existence.

Ordinary matter, also known as baryon matter , on the other hand, is what makes everything we know, from planets, stars or galaxies. According to early calculations in the 1990s, baryon matter accounted for only 5% of all other matter in the universe.

According to early calculations in the 1990s, baryon matter accounted for only 5% of all other matter in the universe. (Photo: ICRAR).

However, when they performed the calculations again, the scientists suddenly realized that the materials they could observe had been significantly reduced compared to 5%.

Over the years, various methods have been used to try to detect missing matter, but researchers have been unable to fully detect all normal matter in the universe, mainly because of them. focus on specific areas of space.

Only when pioneering using FRBs tracing technology, the overall picture is gradually revealed.

'What FRBs do is go beyond the limits while other research techniques are powerless,' said Macquart.

Explosions from the past

Fast radio emission is a mysterious and fascinating cosmic phenomenon. They were first identified in 2007, but their origins remain a mystery and finding FRBs is difficult. Telescopes such as ASKAP will allow scientists to pinpoint the source of these radio waves from deep in space.

ASKAP is an important part of research that looks for signs of FRBs, which can generate 10 trillion calculations every second and solve about 1 billion calculations soon after.

Image depicting how the FRB signal propagates through free space and what happens to the signal when it encounters a missing problem. (Photo: ICRAR).

"When radio waves travel in the universe, they interact with dense free electrons around them, obscuring radio signals," said Geraint Lewis, an astrophysicist at the University of Sydney. While not participating in research with the scientific team, he said it was the fading of radio signals that was the key to finding missing materials.

Astronomers have calculated the number of electrons lying along the line of sight returning to the sources of FRBs. After observing five different FRBs from five different locations, the team found that their measurements corresponded almost perfectly to the prediction of the amount of matter that exists in the universe.

The mystery is finally solved, their model for understanding the universe is correct.

Create a map of the visible universe

The visible universe is a region of space that gathers all matter, things and phenomena that humans can observe. With FRBS, the team believes they will become a new tool for space exploration.

The FRB detection method is much more sensitive than previous methods and allows researchers to detect hidden ordinary matter. Astronomers can now connect known universes and create fairly detailed universes.

"This technique will allow us to map out the location of the gas. So far, we have been able to show you images of visible space simulations, if we give us a five-year period and At least 100 radio emissions, we have the ability to make an accurate map of the universe , "said Xavier Prochaska, an astronomer at the University of California.

In the future, the team will continue to search for FRBs with ASKAP and Macquart, saying his team is building a giant machine that can increase FRBs detection rate by 20 times. Such a leap will allow the team to pick up 100 signals within a month, giving us the best overview of the universe.

"Dark matter and dark energy will be the next problem we want to solve," Macquart concluded.