Researchers at NIST have proposed a novel method to detect dark matter using a billion tiny pendulums as sensors. Dark matter makes up about 27% of the universe’s mass but remains undetected. The experiment would be the first to search for dark matter solely through its gravitational interaction with visible matter. The proposed method could detect dark matter particles with a mass as great as that of a grain of salt, a scale rarely explored. The experiment would involve highly sensitive pendulums cooled to near absolute zero and shielded from cosmic rays. An array of about a billion tiny sensors would be required to differentiate dark matter particles from ordinary particles and noise. The technology could also be used to detect weak forces from distant seismic waves and certain subatomic particles.
Keywords: Gravitational, Dark, Matter, Detector, Sensors
