The universe is governed by four fundamental forces.Theres gravity and electromagnetism, and then the lesser known weak and nuclear forces.But a group of theoretical physicists at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) thinks there might just be a fifth fundamental force lurking in the shadows.And this force could revolutionize our understanding of physics, unlocking the mysterious dark universe and potentially even leading to a holy grail of physics: a Grand Unified Theory that merges all of the fundamental forces into one.Theresearchersexplain their findings in apaper published August 11in the journal Physical Review Letters.The four known forces have very obvious jobs holding our universe together,Jonathan Feng, one of the studys authors, told Business Insider. Thats how we discovered them. Gravity holds the planets in orbit around the sun. You see electricity and magnetism in lightning and magnets. The role of this force is going to be much more subtle. If it werent, we would have found it a long time ago.On the hunt for dark matterIt all started in 2015 when a group of nuclear physicists at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences finishedan experiment that involved huntingfor a particle called a dark photon. This dark photon would signal the existence of the long-sought-after dark matter, which scientists believe could makeup about 85% of the mass of the universe.In the experiment, the scientists studied the radioactive decay of an isotope called beryllium 8. As isotopes decay, they disintegrate into other particles. But something funny happened when the beryllium 8 decayedintoelectrons and positrons (the electrons antimatter nemesis). They behaved in strange ways, disregarding our current understanding of elementary particle physics and shooting out in almost opposite directions. This weird behavior hinted at the existence of a new, undiscovered particle.A misbehavingparticleOne interesting thing about this particle is that it would only be about 30 times heavier than anelectron, which is extraordinarily light by todays physics standards.The fact that the particle is so light could meanit will be easier to confirm.Many people think if youre going to try to find a new particle you need to build giant enormous collider like the Large Hadron Collider because you have to get lots of energy and smash particles together very fast, Feng said. But this particle is so light that, in principle, it could have been discovered a long time ago.The particle would also be a sort of a backwards version of photons (particles of light). Unlike photons, which couple to protons because of their charge, this particle would interact more strongly with the neutral neutron. But the particle interactions would be extremely feeble, which is why it eluded detection until now.A hidden forceLooking at the data, along with data from other experiments, the physicists at UCI came to an exciting conclusion. The particle, they said, could be a force-carrying particle. Just like photons carryelectromagnetic force and hypothetical gravitons mediate gravity, this particle would carry a hidden, fifth force that the universe has kept secret until now.The force, Feng speculated, might help scientists achieve something theyve been dreaming about for decadesthe unification of all of the forces. This dream, called the Grand Unified Theory, would give us a simpler, more elegant understanding of the universe, showing that all the interactions we see are different manifestations of one unified force.It might be the tip of iceberg, Feng said. When we start digging down and understanding it more we might actually find that its the key to unlocking the question of unification.The force might also be an entryway into understanding dark matter, mysterious particles making up the bulk of the mass of the universe that have yet to be observed.This force might be acting in a dark universe that somehow leaked over into our universe, Feng said.The next step, of course, is to figure out whether this force actually exists. In the paper, the physicists identified a number of experiments that could be used to follow up and either confirm or refute the existence of this force-carrying particle. Feng anticipates that, depending on how fast other experiments move, we could find out whether or not this mysterious force exists anytime within the next six months to three years.Its clear that if this discovery is real its just mind blowing and revolutionary, Feng said. Its the kind of thing that, if its true, is going to change the way that everyone in the field looks at elementary particles in the universe.SEE ALSO:Thousands of tiny robots will look 11 billion years back in time to solve one of the oldest mysteries in the universeDON'T MISS:Most of the universe may be trapped inside of ancient black holesJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: String theory could be the key to solving the greatest mystery in physics ' explained in under 60 seconds
Click here to read full news..
