Data on near-Earth asteroids helps probe a possible fifth force in the universe

In 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission returned a sample of dust and rocks collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. In addition to the information about the universe gleaned from the sample itself, the data generated by OSIRIS-REx could also provide an opportunity to explore new physics. As described in Physics of communicationsAn international research team led by Los Alamos National Laboratory used tracking data from the asteroid to study the possible existence of a fifth fundamental force of the universe.

“Interpretation of the data we observe while tracking Bennu has the potential to improve our understanding of the theoretical foundations of the universe, potentially revamping our understanding of the Standard Model of physics, gravity and dark matter” , said Yu-Dai Tsai, lead author. on paper. “Object trajectories often exhibit anomalies that can be useful for discovering new physics.”

Given their implications for planetary defense, near-Earth asteroids are closely monitored. The team applied this ground tracking data collected before and during the OSIRIS-REx mission to a probe of extensions of the Standard Model of Physics, which describes three of the four known fundamental forces of the universe.

Optical and radar astrometric data have helped constrain – or establish with some degree of precision – Bennu’s trajectory since its discovery in 1999. The OSIRIS-REx mission provided X-band radiometric and optical navigation tracking data .

“The tight constraints we obtained easily translate into some of the tightest limits ever achieved on Yukawa-type fifth forces,” said Sunny Vagnozzi, an assistant professor at the University of Trento in Italy and co-author of the paper. article. “These results highlight the potential of asteroid tracking as a valuable tool in the search for ultralight bosons, dark matter, and several well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model.”

Anomalies lead to discoveries

The trajectory of a celestial object is influenced by gravity and other factors. Understanding the physics of trajectories can reveal mysteries, especially in the case of anomalies in the trajectory. Long before it was actually observed, the planet Neptune was inferred from the observation of irregularities in the orbit of the neighboring planet Uranus.

Using trajectory data and modeling resulting from Bennu’s tracking, the teams’ analysis established constraints on a possible fifth force and the role of a potential mediating particle, such as an ultralight boson, in this fifth force. The presence of a mediating particle that could act on a fifth force would appear in the altered orbit of an asteroid like Bennu, which is why studying tracking data is so important to physics.

A new particle such as an ultralight boson could represent an extension of the Standard Model to include dark matter and dark energy, which are strongly suggested by cosmological and astrophysical observations but have not yet been integrated into the general framework. While dark matter is thought to make up perhaps 85% of the total matter in the universe, science remains uncertain about the particles and forces that make up dark matter.

Next stop: Apophis

Tsai and others first explored the physics of the fifth force with asteroids with research published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics in 2023, before tackling Bennu. The team plans to build on its work on Bennu in the future with tracking the asteroid Apophis, which will pass within 20,000 miles of Earth in 2029.

NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft will approach the asteroid and kick up dust. This and observations of the impact of Earth’s gravity on Apophis as it passed will provide data to continue the search for the physics of the fifth force.

The team envisions new space quantum technologies and dedicated space missions to improve tracking accuracy or directly search for dark matter.