Abhishek Kumar Singh
The mystery of invisible matter remains a mystery because even today it is not possible to fathom the universe. Although astronomers see only one-sixth of the known universe, more than ninety percent of the matter in infinite galaxies is still unknown. At present no one knows for sure about the invisible matter, what it is!
There is hardly anything more mysterious to scientists than the universe. Like, why is the night dark in spite of innumerable stars, or whether there is any end to this universe or not. There are innumerable questions that remain a mystery even today. The biggest mystery is that what is the universe made of. It is often told that seventy-five percent of our universe is made up of invisible matter i.e. dark matter. But what is this invisible substance, where it is, no one knows, because it is not visible anywhere in space. This is known when the information about the black hole is gathered. Similarly, it is estimated from the gravity of the planets and stars. But defining invisible matter as a principle and solving its mysteries is like solving the mystery of the origin of the organism. But now it is believed that scientists may know some of its secrets.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – the world’s largest laboratory – has been restarted in the city of Geneva, Switzerland on 5th of this month. This laboratory working in the field of particle physics is famous as the European Organization of Nuclear Research (CERN). In this, the giant particle generating machine LHC has been specially upgraded in the last few years. It is believed that when its full operation starts, it will be possible to get concrete information about the existence of invisible matter.
Ten years ago in 2012, the LHC had detected a particle called the Higgs boson, one of the biggest discoveries of the twenty-first century. The Higgs boson is believed to be the cornerstone of the creation of the universe. The story of the Higgs boson is associated with the earliest particles at the birth of the universe that first gained mass. According to the propositions, elementary particles gain mass when they come into contact with each other in a region called the Higgs field. Broadly speaking, these Higgs fields are the energy fields that give mass to other electrons and quark particles. Due to this quality, the Higgs boson is also called the God particle.
The process of gaining mass by particles is linked to the Big Bang event that is believed to have formed the universe. This laboratory has now become more capable and powerful due to the work done to upgrade the LHC after the achievement related to Higgs boson particles. Now in this more particles will collide with each other and they will have more friction. This means that more data will now be available for analysis. There is another important point related to the large amount of energy used by the LHC. This laboratory, called CERN, consumes the same amount of energy as a small town in a year. This energy is used to accelerate the particles. Scientists are trying to make the speed of the particles equal to the speed of light, so that when these particles collide with each other, small particles are divided.
How this amazing machine ‘The Large Hadron Collider’, located in a seventeen-mile-long tunnel on the border of France and Switzerland, can unlock the secret of invisible energy, for this to understand the brief history of CERN. In fact, tests were started at this place first from the Atom Smashing Machine – International Linear Collider and then from the collider – Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It started functioning in the year 2007. Highly charged collisions between electron-positron particles escaping at nearly the speed of light are possible in this giant, shaped like a tunnel buried deep in the ground, away from any surface vibrations. This results in a tremendous burst of energy, light and radiation that can recreate conditions for up to a millionth of a second immediately after the Big Bang. In such a state, that ‘God particle’ i.e. Higgs boson particle can arise, in which the secret of invisible matter and invisible energy, from the fundamental nature of matter, space and time to all those mysteries which are still unsolved.
It is believed that more than eighty percent of our universe is made up of invisible matter. This invisible substance is so called because it does not interact with or absorb light. Therefore it cannot be seen with the naked eye or astronomical telescopes. The mystery of invisible matter remains a mystery because even today it has not been possible to fathom the universe. Although astronomers see only one-sixth of the known universe, more than ninety percent of the matter in infinite galaxies is still unknown.
Even in these, no one knows for sure about the invisible substance, what it is after all. Although an estimate of its quantity is made. It is believed that if the masses of all galaxies and stars are added up, this is only four percent of the universe. Everything else is invisible matter. To get some idea of how this might work from CERN’s laboratory LHC, scientists cite the theory of the universe and the birth of galaxies. They explain that when the universe originated fourteen billion years ago, there was a sudden influx of electrons and protons. It is estimated that these two particles vibrated and that galaxies came into existence thirteen billion years ago. But it is not known why the tremor happened. It is believed that this vibration was caused by the collision of Higgs boson particles. Now the question is how dark matter will be estimated from the LHC. One theory also says that the particles of invisible matter can be so small that they cannot be caught. But if they carry some energy with them during the collision, then it will be possible to know about their existence.
Professor Harald Lesch of the University of Munich has given an answer to what will be made of invisible matter. According to him, the invisible matter must have been made of dead stars. There are one hundred to two hundred billion stars in each galaxy. Some of them would have completed their lifetime. Only such black holes, neutron stars, extinguished stars accumulate around galaxies. Since they do not shine, they are not visible and they give an impression of their existence only through the force of their gravity. A similar thing has also been said by Simon White, director of the Max Planck Astrophysics Institute in Germany. According to him, no one knows what kind of this invisible matter is, but scientists have evidence for this that there is such a huge amount of matter in the universe, which produces an effect like gravity, but we cannot see it. Of course, no one has yet seen dark matter, but now it seems that scientists can get a glimpse of it through the LHC.