A Fifth Force of Nature?

A Fifth Force of Nature?



Over time, scientists have acquired knowledge and evidence to support the four fundamental forces: gravitation, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear forces. These forces are the basis for our understanding of everything around us. Without these forces of nature, us and all other matter in our universe would simply fall apart.




However, recent discoveries and experiments have raised the possibility of a fifth fundamental force of nature. In 2015, a group of physicists from the Institute for Nuclear Research in Hungary came across an fascinating unexplainable anomaly. This team was searching for dark photons, or particles believed to carry dark matter. Today, scientists are aware that dark matter exists in our universe and makes up 27 percent of our universe. Nevertheless, knowledge on the subject of dark matter or dark energy is still to be enhanced.

While searching for dark photons, the group of physicists uncovered an anomaly, or "something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected". This anomaly couldn't be fully explained by any of the other four fundamental forces of nature, leading them to their theory of a fifth possible force. The team discovered a new particle formed from a decayed particle. They hypothesized that this particle carried a force, and could therefore be a unknown "boson".

Over the past year, experiments done by researchers and scientists from the University of California have further supported this rising theory, but there still isn't enough evidence to say any for sure yet. They hypothesized that "while the normal electric force acts on electric force acts one electron and protons, this newfound boson interacts only with electrons and neutron- and at an extremely limited range". This new breakthrough could lead to a better understanding our of universe and life outside our world. Although this may seem like the pathway to a whole other field of understanding, it is still just a theory in progress, one that must be proved before we jump to any conclusions.