Ingrid Fadelli is a writer for the website Phys.org.
The visible light from all sources is called the Cosmic Optical Background. This faint glow of light, which can only be seen using very precise and sophisticated telescopes, could be used to learn more about the origins of the universe.
The most precise COB measurements were published last year by physicists working at different institutions in the US. The COB is brighter than predicted.
There is a possibility that the observed excess light is caused by the decay of a type of dark matter called axions. They showed in their paper that axions with a mass between 8 and 20 eV could possibly account for the excess COB flux.
One of the researchers who carried out the study said that he noticed the paper when it was published and read it.
The measurement they collected was a great example of using a powerful observatory to different ends than it was intended to be used for. A few years ago, we sent this incredible little spaceship out toward the dwarf planet, and it did everything it was supposed to, but it had no brakes, and is still speeding further and further away from the sun. For the first time, it was possible to detect the optical background from all the unresolved galaxies in the universe.
If the excess they measured was caused by the decay of axions, this could be confirmed with available data. The excess would be detected with a high signal-to-noise ratio during the planned two-year NASA mission.
The types of calculations that Kamionkowski and many other people have been doing for years are embarrassingly simple. When I was a graduate student, there was an idea that two-photon decay of an axion could signal a Cosmic signal. The work we do involves summing the photons from all those produced by axion decay. We had to get some factors of redshift right, but that's a homework problem in a typical class.
The possible connection between axion dark matter decay and the observed excess COB is highlighted by the calculations performed by Kamionkowski and his colleagues.
The project is expected to launch in the year 2025. A follow-up paper was published by the researchers at JohnsHopkins, where they explored the consistency of the axion decay scenario.
The highest-energy gamma rays can be mitigated by the production of electron-positron pairs using COB photons.
We were able to place an upper limit to the COB background from dark-matter decay, which was still consistent with the COB excess inferred from New
A student and a professor at Haverford College are looking into dark-matter decay lines. Some of the space for dark-matter decays should be able to be probed, but not all.
There is more information about Cosmic Optical Background Excess, Dark Matter, and Line-Intensity mapping. There is a book titled "PhysRevLett.129.231301."
Observations of the Cosmic Optical Background are in The Astrophysical Journal. There is a book titled "10847/1538-4357/abc881."
Seeking dark matter with -ray attenuation. There is a book titled "arxiv. 2208.13794."
There is a science network.
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