The Basic Particle Research Center in the Kamioka Universe, the Cosmic Ray Research Institute, University of Tokyo (Japan) has just completed the construction of the XMASS dark matter testing device.
Image for illustrative purposes. (Internet source)
It is expected that XMASS equipment will begin commissioning in November and will be officially put into use next spring.
XMASS device is designed to directly capture dark matter in the universe. Like the Super-Kamiokande device used to test neutrinos, the XMASS device is located at a depth of 1,000 meters under the Kamioka mine.
The XMASS device is primarily composed of a cylindrical 10m water tank, 10m high and a test device that can hold a ton of liquid xenon gas.
After entering the XMASS device, these dark matter will lose some of the energy when it collides with xenon gas (xenon gas is produced in nuclear fusion). After that, xenon gas will be based on different levels of energy to produce light levels. These lights will be retained by the photomultiplier (PMT) around the xenon gas.
According to scientists, the amount of dark matter is thought to be about 5 to 6 times the amount of known matter, and plays an important role in galaxy formation and stars.
Observing dark matter will help the study of the birth mechanism of the universe achieve great progress. However, because dark matter does not emit visible light and other electromagnetic waves, it is difficult to capture them.
Research agencies around the world are racing to conduct direct exploration of dark matter in the hope of becoming the first person to capture dark matter.