物理學(xué)家可能已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了第五種自然力

物理學(xué)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(xué)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(rèn)出來(lái)，而強(qiáng)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(lái)理解，但也有一些異常現(xiàn)象——這暗示我們對(duì)自然的理解缺失了一些東西。出于這個(gè)原因，一些物理學(xué)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(zhì)本質(zhì)的力。

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

根據(jù)一項(xiàng)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(guó)有線電視新聞網(wǎng)報(bào)道，匈牙利科學(xué)院核研究所的科學(xué)家們正在研究一個(gè)被激發(fā)的氦原子在衰變過(guò)程中是如何發(fā)光的。據(jù)報(bào)道，這些粒子以不尋常的115度角分裂，這種行為無(wú)法用我們目前對(duì)物理學(xué)的理解來(lái)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(yù)印本的arXiv上，這些發(fā)現(xiàn)指向了一個(gè)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(zhì)”，首席科學(xué)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(xué)歐文分校的物理學(xué)和天文學(xué)教授喬納森·馮說(shuō)，如果這些結(jié)果可以復(fù)制，“這將是一個(gè)無(wú)需大腦思考的諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)”，他多年來(lái)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(tuán)隊(duì)的研究最初被忽視，直到馮帶領(lǐng)的一個(gè)美國(guó)團(tuán)隊(duì)對(duì)同樣的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行了自己的統(tǒng)計(jì)，顯然證實(shí)了這一發(fā)現(xiàn)。馮的團(tuán)隊(duì)認(rèn)為，新的玻色子確實(shí)攜帶著第五種力量，可以改寫我們對(duì)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(tuán)隊(duì)的實(shí)驗(yàn)的最初目的是尋找理論上的“暗光子”，一種用于暗物質(zhì)的電磁力載體，類似于普通光子攜帶普通物質(zhì)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(yuǎn)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(duì)實(shí)驗(yàn)結(jié)果非常有信心。”他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，除非這個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)漏掉了什么，否則這種僥幸結(jié)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(xué)家們需要確認(rèn)2016年實(shí)驗(yàn)的結(jié)果，以推進(jìn)這一有趣的可能性，這些新發(fā)現(xiàn)是正在進(jìn)行的復(fù)制工作的一部分。馮認(rèn)為，除非一些實(shí)驗(yàn)錯(cuò)誤被忽略，否則這并沒(méi)有揭示出第五種自然力的可能性是1萬(wàn)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(fù)這些結(jié)果，“那將揭開這個(gè)東西的面紗。”