People's Network, Beijing, November 30 - The first dark matter science satellite in China, the "Goku", has been on orbit for nearly two years and has successfully obtained the most accurate electronic cosmic ray detection result in the world at present. Understanding of the dark matter that dominates the universe Relevant papers were published online today in the prestigious academic journal Nature.
The most accurate observations or groundbreaking discoveries
According to the researchers, about 550 million high-energy cosmic rays, including 1.5 million high-energy electrons, were collected in the first 530 days of orbiting operations of the "Goku" satellite. Based on these data, researchers successfully obtained the most accurate electronic cosmic rays Detection results.
Compared with foreign space exploration equipments, such as the Fermi satellite in the United States, 'Goku' not only significantly improves the energy measurement range and the accuracy of the energy spectrum, but also directly measures the electron cosmic energy spectrum at 1 TeV (Energy unit) around the inflection.
Chang Jin, chief scientist of the Dark Matter satellite, said: "This inflection reflects the typical acceleration capability of high-energy electron radiation sources in the universe and plays a key role in determining whether some electron cosmic rays originate from dark matter.
The most notable discovery of this time is that a group of 'abnormal' data appeared in the high-energy segment of the energy spectrum, making the spectrum curve sharp here. "Fan Yizhong, a researcher with the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who participated in the result analysis of the" Wukong " "This indicates that there is a fine structure of the energy spectrum here and analysis shows that the most likely cause of this structure is dark matter, but more data are needed to determine this.
"Once the fine structure is confirmed, it will be a groundbreaking discovery in the field of particle physics or astrophysics." Fan Yizhong said that currently, "Goku" is continuing its work in good condition and gathering more data from deep space.
Eye of fire for 'see' dark matter from
Exploring the physical nature of dark matter is one of the most significant problems in the world of particle physics and astrophysics.
Dark matter is unexplained by the standard particle physics model, and astronomical observations show that the dark matter in the universe is five times more common than the average human being today, but dark matter does not emit light and interacts weakly, making it hard to directly study.
To this end, scientists have used accelerator, underground direct detection, indirect detection of space for dark matter, such as The indirect detection of space is the method used by 'Goku', which requires high energy resolution, high spatial resolution, high statistics Volume, low background high energy particle telescope.
Wukong aims at this direction and achieves the most accurate and efficient exploration in the world with the unique design of Chinese scientists and the unique detector manufacturing technology of Chinese engineers. After more than a year of data accumulation, it finally made a significant discovery .
Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese scientists have finally made breakthroughs in the input and payoff of the basic science front. "Bai Chunli said that the scientific thinking and detection technologies of the dark matter particle detection satellite came from the frequent researcher of the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and has always been paying attention to it for 20 years Celestial energy spectrum of high-energy particles, and explore the most simple and efficient way to directly obtain the spectral data.
Chinese are moving toward the center of the stage of scientific discovery
Perhaps we will remember today in the history of the development of human science because Chinese scientists have gradually come to the center of the stage from the learners, successors and onlookers of the major discoveries and theories in the frontiers of science. "Bai Chunli, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Say.
Dr. Inge Zhiru, Scientific Director of Natural Science China, said: 'Solving the toughest problems in the universe not only makes us a great poet, but also has a direct and positive impact on our universe.'
Commenting on this achievement, he said: "The achievement shows a milestone in the development of China's technological capabilities, and the superb technology required for the measurement in this study is unparalleled and the future may help China solve other issues that we still can not expect now Technical challenge.
As the 'Big Brother', the 'Wukong' satellite is China's first astronomical satellite and is also the starting star for the pilot project in space science in the Chinese Academy of Sciences. During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the Pilot Space Science Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences deployed dark matter satellites, quantum satellites, 'Practice No. 10' and hard X-ray satellite 4 satellite projects, has made a number of major scientific findings and experimental verification results.
In the future, the Chinese Academy of Sciences will continue to give special attention to the frontiers of basic science in supporting and organizing Chinese scientists to challenge major scientific frontiers. "Bai Chunli said that the Chinese Academy of Sciences will focus on such cutting-edge topics as gravitational wave detection, the origin of the universe and dark matter, Continue to lay out, develop and launch new space science satellites.