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A hypothetical “fifth force” in the universe may exert influence on asteroids, but recent findings regarding the asteroid Bennu indicate that its trajectory does not reflect any such force. This observation suggests a limit on the potential strength of this unconfirmed force, according to research published on September 20 in Communications Physics.
Currently, the known fundamental forces of nature include electromagnetism, gravity, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Despite this understanding, a segment of the scientific community entertains the possibility of a fifth force, which could potentially provide insights into some of physics’ most perplexing questions, such as the conundrum of dark matter—a mysterious substance that is believed to account for a significant portion of the universe’s mass.
Scientific Inquiry into Unknown Forces
In their quest to uncover new forces, researchers have prioritized the asteroid Bennu as a key subject of investigation. The asteroid’s trajectory has been meticulously monitored by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, which successfully collected a sample from Bennu and returned it to Earth in 2023. According to physicist Yu-Dai Tsai from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the precise tracking of Bennu allows for the detection of any slight deviations from its expected path that could potentially signal the existence of new physics.
In the realm of physics, each force is typically linked with particles that facilitate its transmission. For instance, the particles of light known as photons are responsible for mediating electromagnetism. If a fifth force does exist, it might be associated with extremely lightweight particles that could also account for dark matter. The data obtained from Bennu has enabled scientists to explore the possibility of such a force, specifically hypothesizing the presence of particles that could weigh as little as a millionth of a trillionth of an electron volt. To put this in perspective, the mass of a single electron is nearly 500,000 electron volts.
Future measurements of other asteroids could further expand the search criteria for identifying such a force by examining a variety of mass ranges. As researchers analyze the returned samples from Bennu, they aim not only to glean information about the physical composition of solar system bodies but also to enhance their understanding of the universe’s elusive dark matter.
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www.sciencenews.org