Did you know a huge part of the universe is missing? Australia’s role in the search for dark matter and what the discovery might mean for our understanding of the world around us will be explored at a public lecture at The University of Western Australia next week.
Australia’s Search for the Missing Part of the Universe will be presented by UWA physicist Dr Jeremy Bourhill next Thursday 20 August as part of the Quantum and Dark Matter Road Trip event for National Science Week.
“For our universe to look the way it does, for it to even exist in the first place, requires that we add in some extra ingredients other than the regular matter that makes up me, you and everything we interact with,” Dr Bourhill said.
“One of these ingredients is something called dark matter, a mysterious, invisible substance that should be spread throughout the universe – and researchers around the world are actively searching for it.”
Dr Bourhill, a member of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics, designs quantum sensors to hunt for dark matter alongside an Australian wide collaboration of researchers.
The talk will explain what they’ve been up to, how the search is progressing, and what a discovery might mean for us and our understanding of the world and its surroundings.
“The nature of dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries of the universe, and Australia is a key player in the quest to figure it out,” Dr Bourhill said.
“It accounts for 84 per cent of all the matter in the universe, but we don’t yet know what it is.”
Quantum technologies are crucial in the hunt for dark matter and already used in smart phones and cars, medical imaging, manufacturing and navigation.
A device Dr Bourhill invented to search for ultralight dark matter is now patented technology being developed to make safer pharmaceuticals.
The National Quantum & Dark Matter Road Trip is a travelling science show, bringing all things quantum and dark matter to towns around Australia.
The free public talk runs from 7pm to 8.30pm at the Ross Lecture Theatre in the Physics Building at UWA’s Crawley campus. For more information or to register click here.