An ‘impossible’ discovery of ‘twisted light’ could rewrite laws of physics - The Independent

The findings could shed light on dark matter and dark energy.

Scientists may have uncovered hints of a perculiar way that ancient light moves across the universe, which, which could offer clues about the nature of dark energy and dark matter.

Dark matter are particles that do not absorb, reflect, or emit light, making them undetectable; they comprise 85 per cent of the matter in the universe and a quarter of its mass.

However, if it is possible to violate this symmetry it could uncover more information about the mysterious dark matter and dark energy in the universe.

As light travelled through the universe, it interacted with dark matter and dark energy and may have caused the plane of polarisation to rotate.

“If dark matter or dark energy interact with the light of the cosmic microwave background in a way that violates parity symmetry, we can find its signature in the polarization data,” said Yuto Minami, a postdoctoral fellow at IPNS.

The scientists found that the distance travelled by light from dust within the Milky Way galaxy is shorter than that of the ancient light, meaning that it is not affected by either dark matter or dark energy.

Scientists have suggested that dark energy could be a cosmic ‘quintessence’ – a substance in itself, rather than a constant of space as was previously thought.

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