“High definition” in particle detection at CERN

Scientists are developing sensors capable of detecting subatomic particles with precision never seen before, this technology can help answer some of the biggest questions in modern physics. The largest particle accelerators in the world have been trying for some time to answer one of the most profound questions in physics: What is the universe really made of?

To investigate it, scientists need to detect extremely rare subatomic particles, often invisible to traditional instruments, and now a new type of quantum sensor can completely change that observation capacity. Researchers from Fermilab-led in the United States in collaboration with NASA, Coutec and the University of Geneva carried out tests at CERN with one of the classes of detectors called superconducting “microwire” sensors.

These devices known by the acronym SMSPDs were designed to detect individual particles with extremely high precision. In the most recent experiments, the sensors demonstrated the ability to identify high-energy particles, including electrons, protons, pions and even muons, with efficiency and temporal resolution superior to previous technologies.

Muons are subatomic particles about 200 times heavier than electrons and their behavior can reveal important clues about the fundamental forces of nature, and to improve the sensitivity of the equipment, the scientists used the thickest film of Tungsten silicate, a superconducting material capable of better absorbing the energy of the particles that pass through the detector.

This adjustment allowed the sensors to capture events with greater precision, both in space and time, which is why some researchers already describe these devices as 4D sensors, capable of recording not only where a particle was detected, but also exactly when it passed through the detector.

Sensors can also play a crucial role and one of the greatest searches of modern science, the detection of dark matter, this mysterious form of matter represents about 85% of all the mass in the universe, but until today it has never been directly observed, according to the researchers, the development of these sensors is still in its early stages, but the results obtained so far indicate that this technology can become one of the main instruments of particle physics in the coming decades.

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