More Matt Strassler: LHC hunts dark matter (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, April 20, 2015, 13:55 (3505 days ago) @ David Turell

Final article on LHC hunt for dark matter, not an easy search:-http://profmattstrassler.com/articles-and-posts/relativity-space-astronomy-and-cosmology/dark-matter/searching-for-dark-matter-at-the-lhc/#twomoreexamples-"Only if and when we get enough information from the LHC (or future particle colliders) to formulate clear hypotheses for how the new particles might behave, and obtain clear predictions for what is expected in other experiments, and only if one of those other experiments clearly confirms at least one of these predictions, can we start to talk seriously about dark matter having been discovered at the LHC.-"Could this happen, and could it happen soon? Sure. But as you can tell, it requires several fortunate things to happen in a row, so while it's not impossible, don't hold your breath. More likely, if it happens, it will take quite a while, perhaps decades. And if dark matter is made of particles that LHC can't produce, or isn't made of particles at all, or simply doesn't exist — well, LHC won't tell us that. It will simply remain silent on the matter. So we're hopeful, and they'll search, but many other approaches toward solving the great puzzles of the universe also need to be pursued."