Are Axions Dark Matter?
The story of the axion is a classic physics tale: intrepid scientists delve deep into trackless mathematics in search of answers to a mystery. And there, against all expectations, they find the hint of a completely new and unexpected denizen of the natural world. In this case the mystery was a subtle inconsistency in the behavior of the fundamental forces. And the unexpected discovery? A brand new particle - the axion - which, while not proven to exist, may explain a much more famous conundrum. The axion may explain dark matter.
|