December 2021
GEO600 helps searching for Dark Matter
The technology behind one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the century – the detection of gravitational waves – is now being used in the search for elusive dark matter. In a study published today in Nature, a team led by scientists from Cardiff University’s Gravity Exploration Institute used data from the German-UK GEO600 gravitational-wave detector near Hannover, Germany, to search for a new kind of dark matter for the very first time. Though no direct detection has been made, this unique search is the first step in establishing a novel search method. The non-detection allowed the researchers to rule out some theories about dark matter and helps to improve future searches for this invisible constituent of our Universe.
