物理學家可能已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了第五種自然力

物理學家可能已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了第五種自然力

Physicists tell us the universe is controlled by just four fundamental forces. Gravity and electromagnetism operate on a scale we can readily recognize, while the strong and weak forces act on the atomic level to connect atoms or break them apart.

物理學家告訴我們，宇宙僅由四種基本力控制。引力和電磁力的作用范圍我們很容易就能辨認出來，而強磁力和弱磁力則在原子水平上起作用，使原子相互連接或分開。

An example of simulated data modeled for the CMS particle detector on the Large Hadron Collider. (Photo: CERN)

Most of physics can be understood with these forces, but there are anomalies — hints that our understanding of nature is missing something. For this reason, some physicists suspect there may be a mysterious fifth force, such as a force that helps explain the nature of dark matter.

大多數(shù)物理現(xiàn)象都可以用這些力來理解，但也有一些異?，F(xiàn)象——這暗示我們對自然的理解缺失了一些東西。出于這個原因，一些物理學家懷疑可能存在一種神秘的第五力，比如一種有助于解釋暗物質本質的力。

And according to new research, we may be getting close to unmasking it.

根據(jù)一項新的研究，我們可能正在接近揭開它的面紗。

Scientists at the Institute for Nuclear Research at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Atomki) were studying how an excited helium atom emitted light as it decayed, CNN reports. The particles reportedly split at the unusual angle of 115 degrees, a behavior that can't be explained by our current understanding of physics.

據(jù)美國有線電視新聞網(wǎng)報道，匈牙利科學院核研究所的科學家們正在研究一個被激發(fā)的氦原子在衰變過程中是如何發(fā)光的。據(jù)報道，這些粒子以不尋常的115度角分裂，這種行為無法用我們目前對物理學的理解來解釋。

Posted on the preprint repository arXiv, the findings point to a mysterious particle known as X17, which might connect "our visible world with the dark matter," lead scientist Attila Krasznahorkay tells CNN.

在預印本的arXiv上，這些發(fā)現(xiàn)指向了一個被稱為X17的神秘粒子，它可能連接“我們的可見世界和暗物質”，首席科學家Attila Krasznahorkay告訴CNN。

If these results can be replicated, "this would be a no-brainer Nobel Prize," adds Jonathan Feng, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, who has followed Krasznahorkay's research for years.

加州大學歐文分校的物理學和天文學教授喬納森·馮說，如果這些結果可以復制，“這將是一個無需大腦思考的諾貝爾獎”，他多年來一直在跟蹤Krasznahorkay的研究。

The Hungarian team's research was initially overlooked until an American team led by Feng ran their own numbers on the same data, apparently confirming the find. Feng's team suggested the new boson is indeed carrying a fifth force that could rewrite the book on our understanding of existence.

匈牙利團隊的研究最初被忽視，直到馮帶領的一個美國團隊對同樣的數(shù)據(jù)進行了自己的統(tǒng)計，顯然證實了這一發(fā)現(xiàn)。馮的團隊認為，新的玻色子確實攜帶著第五種力量，可以改寫我們對存在的理解。

The original reason for the Hungarian team's experiment was to search for a theoretical "dark photon," a proposed electromagnetic force carrier for dark matter, similar to the way regular photons carry the electromagnetic force for normal matter. The new super-light boson may not have been the dark photon they were looking for, but its discovery could turn out to be similarly profound.

匈牙利團隊的實驗的最初目的是尋找理論上的“暗光子”，一種用于暗物質的電磁力載體，類似于普通光子攜帶普通物質的電磁力。新的超輕玻色子可能不是他們所尋找的暗光子，但它的發(fā)現(xiàn)可能具有同樣深遠的意義。

“We are very confident about our experimental results,” Krasznahorkay told Nature in 2016. Unless the team missed something, he added, the odds of this being a flukey result are 1 in 200 billion.

2016年，Krasznahorkay告訴《自然》雜志:“我們對實驗結果非常有信心。”他補充說，除非這個團隊漏掉了什么，否則這種僥幸結果的幾率是2000億分之一。

Scientists need to confirm the results of the 2016 experiment to advance this intriguing possibility, and these new findings are part of that ongoing replication effort. According to Feng, unless some experimental error has been overlooked, the chances that this doesn't reveal a fifth force of nature are 1 in 1 trillion.

科學家們需要確認2016年實驗的結果，以推進這一有趣的可能性，這些新發(fā)現(xiàn)是正在進行的復制工作的一部分。馮認為，除非一些實驗錯誤被忽略，否則這并沒有揭示出第五種自然力的可能性是1萬億分之一。

This still isn't definitive evidence, but as Feng tells CNN, if other researchers can repeat these results with a third type of atom, "that would blow the cover off this thing."

這仍然不是決定性的證據(jù)，但正如馮告訴CNN的，如果其他研究人員可以用第三種類型的原子重復這些結果，“那將揭開這個東西的面紗。”