Physics' Biggest Mystery Solved? How 'Madala Boson' Will Unlock Dark Matter Secrets

Could scientists have found the answer that will shed light to one of the biggest mysteries of Physics?

Scientists at the High Energy Physics Group (HEP) of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg claim they have predicted a new particle that could unlock the secrets of dark matter.

According to Science Alert, signals of the new particle they dubbed as "Madala Boson" was first detected in their experiment called Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012 when they discovered an unusual proton-proton collision.

From then, to their most recent LHC experiments they have come up with what is called the "Madala Hypothesis," and if proven correct, they claim it will help unlock the mysteries of the dark matter in the universe.

"Based on a number of features and peculiarities of the data reported by the experiments at the LHC and collected up to the end of 2012, the Wits HEP group in collaboration with scientists in India and Sweden formulated the Madala hypothesis," says Professor Bruce Mellado, team leader of the HEP group at Wits in a press release forwarded to Phys.org.

According to the release, the "Madala Hypothesis" was almost the same with the Higgs Boson particles confirmed in 2012. But unlike the Higgs Boson particles that interact only with ordinary matter or the mass that we can see, touch and feel, the Madala Boson was predicted to interact with the rest "unknown," or the invisible materials, which makes up about 27 percent of the world around us.

For years, scientists have believed that "dark matter" exists, as the ordinary matter we are familiar with is not suffice to hold the whole universe together. Scientists believe that an obscure explanation exists, but there were only few evidence or studies that can explore it otherwise.

Quoting Bruce Mellado, who led the team at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, IB Times wrote:

"Physics today is at a crossroads similar to the times of Einstein and the fathers of quantum mechanics. Classical physics failed to explain a number of phenomena and, as a result, it needed to be revolutionised with new concepts, such as relativity and quantum physics, leading to the creation of what we know now as modern physics."