What are the latest results in the search for dark matter?
We know it makes up 27% of the universe, yet it remains completely invisible to every detector we've built.
The answer
Despite decades of searching, dark matter has eluded direct detection. The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment in South Dakota, using 10 tonnes of liquid xenon buried 1,480 meters underground, published its first results in 2023 with no dark matter signal - but set the most stringent limits yet on WIMP interactions. The PandaX-4T experiment in China achieved similar null results. These non-detections are pushing physicists toward alternative candidates: axions, sterile neutrinos, and primordial black holes. The ADMX experiment continues searching specifically for axions. Meanwhile, astronomical observations from JWST and gravitational lensing surveys continue to confirm dark matter's gravitational influence on large-scale cosmic structure.
Source: LZ Experiment
- dark matter
- particle physics
- LUX-ZEPLIN
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