Physics research challenges dark matter and mirror world theories

Recent astrophysical research has challenged long-standing assumptions regarding dark matter candidates. A study published in Physical Review Letters by researchers from the Perimeter Institute and the University of Maryland suggests that previous models regarding dark photons were incomplete. Scientists had previously ruled out large parameter ranges for dark photons because they assumed these particles would have converted into ordinary light in the early universe's hot plasma, leaving detectable thermal traces. However, new computer simulations indicate that these conclusions were based on a calculation error or an invalid simplification, reopening significant areas for experimental searches.

In a separate investigation into the mirror world hypothesis, physicists at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland conducted an experiment involving 25 billion ultracold neutrons. The hypothesis suggests that a hidden mirror world of particles could exist, interacting with our own primarily through gravity. While recent experiments in France had provided some hope for the existence of mirror neutrons, the high-precision study at PSI found no evidence of neutrons transforming into mirror versions, making the hypothesis unlikely.