Scientists are using atomic clocks to detect dark matter

Atomic clocks measure the energy of atoms
The precise tool could help scientists detect dark matter
'Atomic clocks bring cosmology and astrophysics down to Earth': Scientist

Updated: Sep 4, 2023 / 03:00 PM CDT

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(NewsNation) — Dark matter makes up about 80% of the observed mass of the universe, but scientists still don’t know much about it. partially because it doesn’t interact with light.

Scientists are now working on using atomic clocks to detect dark matter.

Atomic clocks measure the energy of atoms as they transition from a higher energy state, typically triggered by a laser pulse, to a lower energy state. Sometimes, this transition emits a light particle.

This tool is one of the most precise instruments scientists have. Researchers from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) institute in Germany compared two atomic clocks to try to find the smallest differences in their “ticking” — which may be a signature of dark matter.

Because of how precise these clocks are, they lose one second of time only every 100 million years, making it a good tool to detect dark matter. Specifically, scientists are searching for “ultralight” dark matter.

“Atomic clocks bring cosmology and astrophysics down to Earth, enabling searches for ultra-light particles that could explain dark matter in a laboratory,” Xavier Calmet, project leader and a professor of physics at the University of Sussex, told Space.com.

Along with detecting dark matter, Calmet believes using atomic clocks could also potentially be used to investigate other aspects of the universe that are troubling to physicists, including dark energy, the unknown force driving the expansion of space.