科学家发现了寻找暗物质的新方法

Dark matter is famously supposed to take up 27% of the existing mass-energy of the universe. Dark energy eats up another 68%, while ordinary matter and energy that includes us accounts for just about 5%, scientists estimate. But if so much of everything is taken up by dark matter and dark energy, where are they? Neither has been conclusively detected, but a new study proposes a fresh way to spot dark matter signatures, looking in data we already gathered.

众所周知，暗物质占据了宇宙现有质量能量的27%。科学家们估计，暗能量又吞噬了68%，而包括我们在内的普通物质和能量只占5%。但是如果所有的东西都被暗物质和暗能量占据了那么多，那么它们在哪里呢?这两种方法都没有被最终检测到，但是一项新的研究提出了一种新的方法来发现暗物质的特征，从我们已经收集的数据中寻找。

The study, led by researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley, found that it may be possible to detect dark matter signals during scattering. This process occurs when dark matter particles collide with atomic nuclei, producing small flashes of light and other potentially noticeable indicators. The scientists think they can pinpoint such moments and capture dark matter by looking for ejected electrons, neutrinos or other signs.

这项由劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室和加州大学伯克利分校的研究人员领导的研究发现，在散射过程中可能探测到暗物质信号。当暗物质粒子与原子核发生碰撞，产生微弱的闪光和其他潜在的明显迹象时，这个过程就会发生。科学家们认为，他们可以通过寻找喷射出的电子、中微子或其他迹象，精确定位这些时刻并捕捉暗物质。

The study suggests that some currently existing experiments can be adapted to search for these kind of signals that relate to how the dark matter energy is absorbed.

这项研究表明，一些现有的实验可以用来寻找这些与暗物质能量如何被吸收有关的信号。

The scientists also propose they can look through particle detector data that's already been gathered to find dark matter characteristics.

科学家们还提出，他们可以通过已经收集的粒子探测器数据来寻找暗物质的特征。

The study's lead author, postdoctoral researcher Jeff Dror from Berkeley Lab's Theory Group and UC Berkeley's Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, explained that "You can make a huge amount of progress with very little cost if you step back a little bit in the way we've been thinking about dark matter."

这项研究的主要作者、伯克利实验室理论小组和加州大学伯克利分校伯克利理论物理中心的博士后研究员杰夫·德罗解释说，“如果你按照我们一直思考暗物质的方式退一步，可以用很少的成本取得巨大的进步。”

The researchers hope their approach can lead to new avenues in the search for the elusive dark matter. One plan is to focus on discovering light fermions, which may be related to the so-called "sterile neutrinos" – another theorized particle.

研究人员希望他们的方法能为寻找难以捉摸的暗物质开辟新的途径。一个计划是集中精力发现轻费米子，这可能与所谓的“惰性中微子”有关，后者是另一个理论粒子。

Most conducive to re-adapting, according to the scientists, would be existing experiments involving large, highly-sensitive detector materials with low background "noise" or interference. One such contraption could be the ultra sensitive UX-ZEPLIN (LZ), a dark matter search project currently under construction in a former South Dakota mine.

根据科学家的说法，最有利于重新适应的将是现有的实验，这些实验将涉及大型、高灵敏度、低背景“噪音”或干扰的探测材料。超灵敏的UX-ZEPLIN (LZ)就是这样一个精巧的装置，这是一个暗物质搜索项目，目前正在南达科他州的一个矿井中进行。

Another possibility is try the new method with the data from the Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO), an underground experiment that already cooperated with the researchers.

另一种可能性是利用已与研究人员合作的一项地下实验——富集氙观测站(EXO)的数据来尝试这种新方法。