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Antimatter particles notice on theInternational Space Station(ISS ) may be grounds for unknown physics , new research suggests .
The particles , antimatter versions of helium nucleus , may have been produced by cosmic bolide , — and physicist ca n’t excuse how those fireball form usingthe Standard Model , the theory which delineate the zoo of subatomic particle .
Eight years ago, scientists with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) collaboration detected an unusual number of antihelium nuclei that the Standard Model of Physics couldn’t explain. Now, scientists say they could be evidence of hypothetical objects known as “cosmic fireballs."
All primary particles have gibe antiparticles with polar electrical charges , which annihilate each other on contact . possibility suggests half the matter in the universe of discourse should have been antimatter , which would mean the universe would have destroyed itself soon after the Big Bang .
Yet antimatter in the cosmos is scarce and momentaneous . While particle accelerator can generate antiparticles through collision of protons and negatron , and special detector detect antiparticles from high - Department of Energy blank space collisions , such as those from supernova explosions , these normally yield only individual antiparticle like positrons ( antielectrons ) and antiproton .
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However , about eight years ago , the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer ( AMS-02 ) aboard the ISS find around 10 antihelium nucleus . These nuclei consist of two antiprotons and either one or two antineutron ( for antihelium-3 and antihelium-4 versions , severally ) . If confirmed through further analytic thinking , the discovery would challenge the Standard Model of particle aperient
According to the Standard Model , making antihelium-4 requires that at least three or four antiproton and antineutron be near enough to each other and be move slow enough to dumbfound together , study co - authorMichael A. Fedderke , a postdoctoral investigator at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada , told Live Science in an email . found on these requirements , one antihelium-4 would be produced for every 10,000 antihelium-3 .
" The really interesting thing about the AMS-02 campaigner events is that the data point seem to be consistent with about one antihelium-4 result for every two to three antihelium-3 events , " Fedderke say . , That ’s far above what the Standard Model predicts .
In the new bailiwick , published June 21 in the journalPhysical Review D , the team tried to explain this variant using conjectural objects called powerhouse . These fireball could ensue from currently unseen phenomena , such as the collision of passing dense clumps ofdark matter — a secret substance that makes up about 80 % of the cosmos ’s thing but does not interact with illumination so ca n’t be like a shot observed .
" A fireball is a dim , energetic region of space take large numbers racket of antiparticle , " study co - authorAnubhav Mathur , a doctoral educatee at Johns Hopkins University , secernate Live Science . " Once formed , it expands at tight to the speed of brightness , release antiprotons , antineutron , and antihelium into the surrounding environment . The antinuclei subsequently go outwards , and some of them reach the Earth where they can be detected . "
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The investigator modeled ball of fire of various sizes and demeanor . They found that if the fireballs were turgid , " composite " objects made of many dark matter particles , then the amount of antihelium nucleus they develop match well with the preliminary solvent detected aboard the ISS , Fedderke said .
" On the observational side , we ’re looking forwards to AMS-02 completing their depth psychology of their nominee antihelium events , as well as to them select more data in future tense which may throw away further light on this puzzle , " Fedderke said .
The General AntiParticle Spectrometer ( GAPS ) undertaking , which will found a balloon over Antarctica later this year to detect antimatter cosmic ray , including antihelium nuclei , could also slough light on the matter , Fedderke bestow .
