WISP (quantum Mechanics)
In particle physics, the acronym WISP refers to a largely hypothetical weakly interacting sub-eV particle, or ''weakly interacting ''slender'' particle'', or ''weakly interacting ''slim'' particle'' – low-mass particles which rarely interact with conventional particles. The term is used to generally categorize a type of dark matter candidate, and is essentially synonymous with ''Axion, axion-like particle'' (ALP). WISPs are generally List of particles#Hypothetical_particle_anchor, hypothetical particles. WISPs are the low-mass counterpart of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). Discussion Except for conventional, active neutrinos, all WISPs are candidate dark matter constituents, and many proposed experiments to detect WISPs might possibly be able to detect several different kinds. "WISP" is most often used to refer to a low-mass List of particles#Hypothetical_particle_anchor, hypothetical particles which are viable dark matter candidates. Examples include: * Axion � ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Particle Physics
Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the scale of protons and neutrons, while the study of combinations of protons and neutrons is called nuclear physics. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) and bosons (force-carrying particles). There are three Generation (particle physics), generations of fermions, although ordinary matter is made only from the first fermion generation. The first generation consists of Up quark, up and down quarks which form protons and neutrons, and electrons and electron neutrinos. The three fundamental interactions known to be mediated by bosons are electromagnetism, the weak interaction, and the strong interaction. Quark, Quarks cannot exist on their own but form hadrons. Hadrons that ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Superpartner
In particle physics, a superpartner (also sparticle) is a class of hypothetical elementary particles predicted by supersymmetry, which, among other applications, is one of the well-studied ways to extend the Standard Model of high-energy physics. When considering extensions of the Standard Model, the ''s-'' prefix from ''sparticle'' is used to form names of superpartners of the Standard Model fermions ( sfermions),Alexander I. Studenikin (ed.), ''Particle Physics in Laboratory, Space and Universe'', World Scientific, 2005, p. 327. e.g. the stop squark. The superpartners of Standard Model bosons have an ''-ino'' (bosinos) appended to their name, e.g. gluino, the set of all gauge superpartners are called the gauginos. Theoretical predictions According to the supersymmetry theory, each fermion should have a partner boson, the fermion's superpartner, and each boson should have a partner fermion. Exact ''unbroken'' supersymmetry would predict that a particle and its superpartners ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dark Matter
In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relativity unless more matter is present than can be observed. Such effects occur in the context of Galaxy formation and evolution, formation and evolution of galaxies, gravitational lensing, the observable universe's current structure, mass position in galactic collisions, the motion of galaxies within galaxy clusters, and cosmic microwave background Anisotropy, anisotropies. Dark matter is thought to serve as gravitational scaffolding for cosmic structures. After the Big Bang, dark matter clumped into blobs along narrow filaments with superclusters of galaxies forming a cosmic web at scales on which entire galaxies appear like tiny particles. In the standard Lambda-CDM model of cosmology, the mass–energy equivalence, mass–energy content o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Weakly Interacting Massive Particle
Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) are hypothetical particles that are one of the proposed candidates for dark matter. There exists no formal definition of a WIMP, but broadly, it is an elementary particle which interacts via gravity and any other force (or forces) which is as weak as or weaker than the weak nuclear force, but also non-vanishing in strength. Many WIMP candidates are expected to have been produced thermally in the early Universe, similarly to the particles of the Standard Model according to Big Bang cosmology, and usually will constitute cold dark matter. Obtaining the correct abundance of dark matter today via thermal production requires a self-annihilation Cross section (physics), cross section of \langle \sigma v \rangle ≃ , which is roughly what is expected for a new particle in the 100 GeV/''c''2 mass range that interacts via the electroweak force. Experimental efforts to detect WIMPs include the search for products of WIMP annihilation, inclu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lightest Supersymmetric Particle
In particle physics, the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is the generic name given to the lightest of the additional hypothetical particles found in supersymmetric models. In models with R-parity conservation, the LSP is stable; in other words, it cannot decay into any Standard Model particle, since all SM particles have the opposite R-parity. There is extensive observational evidence for an additional component of the matter density in the universe, which goes under the name dark matter. The LSP of supersymmetric models is a dark matter candidate and is a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP). Constraints on LSP from cosmology The LSP is unlikely to be a charged wino, charged higgsino, slepton, sneutrino, gluino, squark, or gravitino but is most likely a mixture of neutral higgsinos, the bino and the neutral winos, i.e. a neutralino. In particular, if the LSP were charged (and is abundant in our galaxy) such particles would have been captured by the Earth's mag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Light Dark Matter
Light dark matter, in astronomy and cosmology, are dark matter weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPS) candidates with masses less than 1 GeV (i.e., a mass similar to or less than a neutron or proton). These particles are heavier than warm dark matter and hot dark matter, but are lighter than the traditional forms of cold dark matter, such as Massive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs). The Lee- Weinberg bound limits the mass of the favored dark matter candidate, WIMPs, that interact via the weak interaction to \approx 2 GeV. This bound arises as follows. The lower the mass of WIMPs is, the lower the annihilation cross section, which is of the order \approx m^2/M^4, where ''m'' is the WIMP mass and ''M'' the mass of the Z boson. This means that low mass WIMPs, which would be abundantly produced in the early universe, freeze out (i.e. stop interacting) much earlier and thus at a higher temperature, than higher mass WIMPs. This leads to a higher relic WIMP density. If the mass is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hot Dark Matter
Hot dark matter (HDM) is a theoretical form of dark matter which consists of particles that travel with ultrarelativistic velocities. Description Dark matter is a form of matter that neither emits nor absorbs light. Within physics, this behavior is characterized by dark matter not interacting with electromagnetic radiation, hence making it ''dark'' and rendering it undetectable via conventional instruments in physics. Data from galaxy rotation curves indicate that approximately 80% of the mass of a galaxy cannot be seen, forcing researchers to innovate ways that ''indirectly'' detect it through dark matter's effects on gravitational fluctuations. As we shall see below, it is useful to differentiate dark matter into "hot" (HDM) and "cold" (CDM) types–some even suggesting a middle-ground of "warm" dark matter (WDM). The terminology refers to the mass of the dark matter particles (which dictates the speed at which they travel): HDM travels faster than CDM because the HDM par ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Feebly Interacting Particles
Feebly interacting particles (FIPs) are subatomic particles defined by having extremely suppressed interactions with the Standard Model (SM) bosons and / or fermions. These particles are potential thermal dark matter candidates, extending the model of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) to include weakly interacting sub-eV particles (WISPs) and others. FIP physics is also known as ''dark-sector physics''. Candidates FIP candidates could be massive (FIMP / WIMP) or massless and coupled to the SM particles through some minimal coupling strength. The light FIPs are theorized to be dark matter candidates, and, they provide an explanation for the origin of neutrino masses and CP symmetry in strong interactions. Neutrinos technically qualify as FIPs, but usually when the acronym "FIP" is used, it is intended to refer to some other, as-yet unknown particle. Cai, Cacciapaglia, and Lee (2022) proposed massive gravitons as feebly Interacting particle candidates. See ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Neutrino
A neutrino ( ; denoted by the Greek letter ) is an elementary particle that interacts via the weak interaction and gravity. The neutrino is so named because it is electrically neutral and because its rest mass is so small ('' -ino'') that it was long thought to be zero. The rest mass of the neutrino is much smaller than that of the other known elementary particles (excluding massless particles). The weak force has a very short range, the gravitational interaction is extremely weak due to the very small mass of the neutrino, and neutrinos do not participate in the electromagnetic interaction or the strong interaction. Consequently, neutrinos typically pass through normal matter unimpeded and with no detectable effect. Weak interactions create neutrinos in one of three leptonic flavors: # electron neutrino, # muon neutrino, # tau neutrino, Each flavor is associated with the correspondingly named charged lepton. Although neutrinos were long believed to be mas ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Astrophysical Plasma
Astrophysical plasma is plasma outside of the Solar System. It is studied as part of astrophysics and is commonly observed in space. The accepted view of scientists is that much of the baryonic matter in the universe exists in this state. When matter becomes sufficiently hot and energetic, it becomes ionized and forms a plasma. This process breaks matter into its constituent particles which includes negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions. These electrically charged particles are susceptible to influences by local electromagnetic fields. This includes strong fields generated by stars, and weak fields which exist in star forming regions, in interstellar space, and in intergalactic space. Similarly, electric fields are observed in some stellar astrophysical phenomena, but they are inconsequential in very low-density gaseous media. Astrophysical plasma is often differentiated from space plasma, which typically refers to the plasma of the Sun, the solar wind, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Geneva, on the France–Switzerland border. It comprises #Member states and budget, 24 member states. Israel, admitted in 2013, is the only full member geographically out of Europe. CERN is an official United Nations General Assembly observers#Intergovernmental organizations, United Nations General Assembly observer. The acronym CERN is also used to refer to the laboratory; in 2023, it had 2,666 scientific, technical, and administrative staff members, and hosted about 12,370 users from institutions in more than 80 countries. In 2016, CERN generated 49 Byte#Multiple-byte units, petabytes of data. CERN's main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research – consequently, numer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chirality (physics)
A chiral phenomenon is one that is not identical to its mirror image (see the article on mathematical chirality). The spin of a particle may be used to define a handedness, or helicity, for that particle, which, in the case of a massless particle, is the same as chirality. A symmetry transformation between the two is called parity transformation. Invariance under parity transformation by a Dirac fermion is called chiral symmetry. Chirality and helicity The helicity of a particle is positive ("right-handed") if the direction of its spin is the same as the direction of its motion. It is negative ("left-handed") if the directions of spin and motion are opposite. So a standard clock, with its spin vector defined by the rotation of its hands, has left-handed helicity if tossed with its face directed forwards. Mathematically, ''helicity'' is the sign of the projection of the spin vector onto the momentum vector: "left" is negative, "right" is positive. The chirality of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |