Dark matter is a type of matter that makes up about 80% of the universe’s mass, but it cannot be directly detected using conventional techniques. A new approach proposed by researchers at Texas A&M University could enable the direct detection of dark matter.
The method, known as internal pair production, involves a process where a dark matter particle scatters off a nucleus and produces a visible recoil signal. However, this is only possible for light dark matter particles, which face a limitation in transferring sufficient energy to a heavy nucleus.
To overcome this challenge, the researchers developed a framework that allows additional particles to be produced in the final state, sharing the dark matter’s energy while keeping the nucleus largely at rest. This process creates distinctive signatures that can separate dark matter signals from neutrino backgrounds and offer new ways to probe underlying dark matter models.
The approach is based on theoretical predictions that energetic dark matter particles can collide with nuclei in dense materials, resulting in the exchange of a virtual photon, which prompts the formation of a lepton-antilepton pair. The researchers propose extracting energetic and visible signals associated with this process, which has been difficult to achieve so far.
The team plans to extend their approach to search for dark matter present in the galaxy or produced in astrophysical sources such as blazars, where the resulting energetic signals could be detectable in various experiments. This new method offers new possibilities for future dark matter searches and could contribute to its detection and shedding light on its origin and composition.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-07-internal-pair-production-enable-dark.html