Borwn researchers share LUX results at UK conference

Dark matter and stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Dark matter and stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. | Courtesy of Shutterstock
Brown University researchers recently presented their final results of the Large Underground Xenon dark matter experiment at a U.K conference.

This project aimed to study dark matter in the universe and attempted to spot a particle that would fall under this category. While the project failed to find this particle, the project has eliminated former possibilities that will allow researchers to have more information. The team behind the experiment states that if the particle had interacted with the xenon, the machines would have been able to detect it.

Dark matter refers to approximately four-fifths of mass in our universe. Little is known about this substance, with evidence for its existence being the gravitational impact on galaxies and light.

“LUX has delivered the world’s best search sensitivity since its first run in 2013,” Brown physics professor at and co-spokesperson for the LUX experiment Rick Gaitskell said. “With this final result from the 2014-16 search, the scientists of the LUX Collaboration have pushed the sensitivity of the instrument to a final performance level that is four times better than the original project goals. It would have been marvelous if the improved sensitivity had also delivered a clear dark matter signal. However, what we have observed is consistent with background alone.”