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What is Dark Matter? We don\u2019t know. At this stage of the game, scientists are busy trying to detect it and map out its presence and distribution throughout the Universe. Usually, that involves highly-engineered, sophisticated telescopes. <\/p>\n
But a new approach involves a device so small it can sit on a kitchen table. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n A collaboration between the University of Chicago and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has resulted in a tabletop device called Broadband Reflector Experiment for Axion Detection or BREAD. BREAD is built to detect dark matter, and its first results are now available in a new paper. <\/p>\n The paper is \u201cFirst Results from a Broadband Search for Dark Photon Dark Matter in the 44 to 52 \u00b5eV Range with a Coaxial Dish Antenna.\u201d It\u2019s published in Physical Review Letters, and the lead author is Stefan Knirck. Knirck is a Fermilab postdoctoral scholar who led the construction of the detector. <\/p>\n The word \u2018mysterious\u2019 barely describes dark matter. It constitutes about 85% of the matter in the Universe. It can\u2019t be seen, but its presence is inferred from observations. Its mass holds galaxies together; without it, they would fly apart. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very confident that something is there, but there are many, many forms it could take.\u201d<\/p>\n David Miller, University of Chicago<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Dark matter is sometimes described as the Universe\u2019s backbone or the scaffolding that holds regular matter. Simulations like TNG Illustris showed how dark matter is distributed throughout the Universe in a network of filaments and clumps. The distribution of galaxy clusters follows the same pattern. <\/p>\n Physicists still don\u2019t know what dark matter is. But it\u2019s there, and there are several candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very confident that something is there, but there are many, many forms it could take,\u201d said University of Chicago Associate Professor David Miller. Miller is a co-leader of the BREAD experiment.<\/p>\n One of the candidates is a hypothetical type of particle called an axion. If they\u2019re real and their mass is within certain limits, they could be one of dark matter\u2019s components. <\/p>\n The BREAD experiment focuses on the mass range of 10.7\u201312.5 GHz. Within that range, it searches for dark photon dark matter. Along with axions, they\u2019re one of the most promising candidates for dark matter. Dark photons are a hypothetical type of particle that physicists think might act as a force carrier for dark matter like photons are force carriers for electromagnetism. Axions and dark photons are linked in the search for dark matter, but a detailed explanation is beyond the scope of this article. (Watch Fraser Cain\u2019s videos for a deeper dive.)<\/p>\n \n\n