Scientific Experiment Attempted to Control and Detect Dark Energy “Chameleons”

A recently conducted scientific experiment attempted to control and detect dark energy “chameleons.” Through extensive effort the experiment was aimed at ascertaining (or denying) the existence of the energy dominating the universe (i.e. dark energy implied by chameleon particles) in a laboratory.

“Chameleons” are hypothetical particles of dark energy. A scientific team led by assistant professor of physics, Holger Müller, wants to get a hold of these particles and trap them.

The experiment was published in the journal Science this week and the results were directed at exposing chameleons or other ultralight particles.

Two teams comprised of UC Berkley physicists one the Nobel Prize by discovering the concept of dark energy in 1998. To be more precise, the universe was increasingly expanding, being torn apart via an unseen pressure accounting for 68 percent of the cosmos’ energy.

Beginning with 1998, efforts have been made to explain the nature of the above-mentioned mysterious energy. The concept of chameleon particles was proposed by Justin Khoury, of the University of Pennsylvania, in 2004, as he stated that the reason why these dark energy particles cannot be actually detected was that they had been “hiding” from physicists.

Khoury stated that the mass of dark energy particles, which he denominated “chameleons”, would depend on the density of the matter surrounding them. This theory emphasized that the dark matter chameleon field could actually exist, whereas the density of its environmental elements influences its strength.

It seems it was pointed out that chameleons were capable of pushing space apart, but, analyzed in a lab, matter would surround them, making their mass larger and difficult to reach. Physics principles state that a long-range force is implied by a low mass, and a short-range force by a larger mass, respectively.

Another scientist of the “dark energy group” is Paul Hamilton believed that the atom interferometer built at Berkeley would be able to ascertain the existence of chameleons. An interferometer is a measuring device which is employed to discern measurements of waves.

Moreover, what the scientific team did was drop cesium atoms, cesium being the soft reactive metallic element of the alkali group, above an aluminum sphere, while lasers were used to ascertain how atoms would free fall for approximately 10 to 20 milliseconds. They exclusively detected Earth’s gravity, which would remove the instances of possible energies specific to the particle.

So it seems that, so far, the attempts to detect chameleons were unsuccessful and the existence of chameleons was not yet 100 percent proven, scientists remaining skeptical about this issue.

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