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Scientists from the Institute of Physics of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń conducted pioneering experiments using an optical atomic clock to search for dark matter. The results of the research have just been published on the pages of the prestigious "Nature Astronomy".

This publication is the work of the scientists from the NCU Department of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. The first author is dr Piotr Wcisło and the co-authors are: dr inż. Piotr Morzyński, dr Marcin Bober, dr Agata Cygan, dr hab. Daniel Lisak, prof. UMK, dr hab. Roman Ciuryło, prof. UMK oraz dr hab. Michał Zawada. The fact that all the authors of the article published in the journal of this magnitude are affiliated with one research centre is unique in the scale of Polish science. What's more, all the measurements presented in "Nature Astronomy" were carried out in Toruń – in the National Laboratory for Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (KL FAMO) with the use of the Polish Optical Atomic Clock (POZA), constructed jointly with the researchers from the University of Warsaw, Jagiellonian University and the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń two years ago.

The article Experimental constraint on dark matter detection with optical atomic clocks describes the first experimental use of optical atomic clocks to look for dark matter in the laboratory. Dr Piotr Wcisło’s pioneering idea was to use even a single optical atomic clock, which is sensitive to disturbances.

- The physical effects suggesting the existence of dark matter have been observed only in the galactic scale. The explanation of the observed motion of bodies inside galaxies or characteristic refraction of light that reaches the Earth would require much stronger gravitational interaction than that whose source was the visible matter - says dr Piotr Wcisło. – The observation of dark matter in the lab would be a real breakthrough. We were able to use the tool to search for dark matter, and measure, that if dark matter really exists, it does not interact with matter known to us in a stronger way than a certain value determined by us.

This is an important step on the way to solve one of the most fundamental problems of physics.

The team of scientists from the NCU plans to continue and cooperate with other centres which also have optical atomic clocks and jointly create a kind of a global observatory.