Axion

Physicists Have Finally Seen Traces of a Long-Sought Particle. Here's Why That's a Big Deal.

By Meredith Fore - Live Science Contributor a day ago Space 

It was predicted four decades ago, but only found now.

(Image: © Courtesy of the researchers)

Scientists have finally found traces of the axion, an elusive particle that rarely interacts with normal matter. The axion was first predicted over 40 years ago but has never been seen until now. 

Scientists have suggested that dark matter, the invisible matter that permeates our universe, may be made of axions. But rather than finding a dark matter axion deep in outer space, researchers have discovered mathematical signatures of an axion in an exotic material here on Earth.

The newly discovered axion isn't quite a particle as we normally think of it: It acts as a wave of electrons in a supercooled material known as a semimetal. But the discovery could be the first step in addressing one of the major unsolved problems in particle physics.