The sun may be scooping up dark matter, changing the way it releases energy. This could have a profound effect on life on Earth. (Source: Yohkoh satellite [Jaxa])
Sun may be acting as a scoop, picking up dark matter
Is
life on Earth possible thanks to a bizarre solar effect of dark
matter?
A mystery that has puzzled scientists for some
time now is the solar composition problem. The
sun appears to have a much easier time transporting energy
to the surface than standard models would predict based on
traditional theories of its composition. While the exact reason
why this happens has been unclear, what has been clear is that it
likely has profound implications on the radiation received by Earth
and hence life on our planet.
Now physicists at the University
of Oxford have come up with a wild new theory to explain what's going
on and to better characterize our solar system's star.
Astroparticle physicist Subir
Sarkar of the University of Oxford and his colleague Mads
Frandsen claim in a new study that the sun acts as a vacuum
cleaner, sucking up dark matter. This dark matter could be to
blame for the energy transfer effects.
Dark matter is thought
to consist of WIMPs --
weakly interacting massive particles. These particles are
predicted to be 100 times more massive than a proton. However,
they're hard to observe as they only interact through the weak
nuclear force and gravity. Also, current theory states that
when WIMPs come in contact with each other, they annihilate each
other, spitting out particles like neutrinos.
Professor Sarkar
believes in a slightly different theory. He points out that if
there were equal amounts of matter and antimatter in the original
universe, they would have annihilated each other. Rather,
something seems to be favoring matter. He believes that
similarly that whatever is favoring the survival of matter could be
favoring the survival of WIMPs.
He also believes that dark
matter is much lighter than previously theorized -- a mere 5 times
the mass of a proton. He states, "If it were five times
heavier, it would get five times the abundance. That’s what dark
matter is. That’s the simplest explanation for dark matter in
my view."
If he's right, he's created a headache for the
particle physics community; lighter particles are harder to detect.
Fortunately, he's also offered them a solution. He suggests
that the sun is sucking up dark matter and that by observing it, dark
matter can be formally detected. He states, "The sun has
been whizzing around the galaxy for 5 billion years, sweeping up all
the dark matter as it goes."
Indirect observation of the
dark matter could come in the form of the unusual energy transfer to
the solar surface. While normal particles like photons would
strongly interact with matter in the sun and have a much slower rate
of energy transfer, dark matter mostly just interacts with itself
(barring weak interactions), thus could transfer energy much faster
to the surface.
According to Professor Sarkar, the numbers add
up perfectly. He states, "When we do the calculation, to
our amazement, it turns out this is true. They can transport
enough heat to solve the solar composition problem."
The
next step in verification will be to check the sun's neutrino
output. Two new detectors --Borexino and
one in Canada called SNO+ --
will soon be fired up and Sarkar is requesting that they check to see
if the solar emission rate is equivalent to what his theory
predicted.
If he's right that could mean that life as we know
it on Earth may be thanks in part to the solar effects of dark
matter.
The study was published in
the July 2 edition of the journal Physical
Review Letters.
The
work, while unproven, has already gained some high profile praise
from academics in the field. American physicist Dan
Hooper of Fermilab
in Illinois comments, "[The study is] not too much of a
stretch, in my opinion. I look at their numbers, and they’re
very plausible to me. There’s an increasingly compelling body
of evidence accumulating [of less massive dark matter]. The
jury is still out, but if this is really what’s going on, we should
be able to know it with some confidence in the next year or so."
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