Taylor Research Group

Scientists have been searching for dark matter with no success for more than 30 years. JQI and other NIST researchers are now exploring new ways to search for the invisible particles. In one study, a prototype for a much larger experiment, researchers have used state-of-the-art superconducting detectors to hunt for dark matter. The study has already placed new limits on the possible mass of one type of hypothesized dark matter. Another NIST team has proposed that trapped electrons, commonly used to measure properties of ordinary particles, could also serve as highly sensitive detectors of hypothetical dark matter particles if they carry charge.