Simulation of axion generation in early universe (VIDEO)
Caption
Zooming in on a small part of the supercomputer simulation of the early universe shows the formation of topological defects called strings (yellow), which writhe and vibrate at speeds approaching the speed of light. As the strings twist, vibrate and shrink, they emit radiation in the form of axions (blue). This axion radiation may then become the dark matter in our universe. The goal of this simulation is to precisely measure how much axion radiation is produced by the shrinking string network, and from that calculate the expected mass of the axion particle.
Credit
Malte Buschmann, Princeton University
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