CNN: Hungarian physicists at the door of Nobel Prize?

Could Hungarian physicists have found the fifth force of nature? It could mean a no-brainer Nobel Prize and probably a connection between our visible world and the dark matter.

Physics – as all branch of sciences – would like to explain how the universe works with some very simple equations, a unified field theory. Today, we know about four forces – gravity, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force, and the strong force – shaping our universe but there are a lot of phenomenons we cannot explain yet so there might be a good chance that there are other forces, as well – CNN reported.

Scientists at the Institute for Nuclear Research at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Atomki) have posted findings showing what could be an example of that fifth force at work. They were closely watching how an excited helium atom emitted light as it decayed. However, the particles split at an unusual angle – 115 degrees – which

could not be explained by known physics.

The study’s lead scientist, Attila Krasznahorkay, told CNN that this was the second time his team had detected a new particle, which they call X17 because they calculated its mass at 17 megaelectronvolts. He added in an email that “X17 could be a particle, which connects our visible world with the dark matter.”

Jonathan Feng, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California at Irvine, believes that Professor Krasznahorkay’s findings can be a game-changer and might mean a no-brainer Nobel Prize if the experiments can be replicated. The current results are

based on a paper published in 2016