MADMAX is an experiment currently being created to find a previously undetected particle. The sought-after axion could answer two central questions in particle physics: What is dark matter made of, and why is the interaction that holds atomic nuclei together so symmetric? Scientists from ten…

The Max Planck Institute for Physics is pleased to announce two successful applications to the European Research Council (ERC): 10 million euros will go to the project "UNIVERSE+: Positive Geometry in Particle Physics and Cosmology", coordinated by MPP Director Johannes Henn. The second grant,…

For more than 100 years, scientists have puzzled over the source of the high-energy cosmic rays that continuously pelt our Earth's atmosphere. Neutrinos are the only particles in the radiation that allow direct conclusions to be drawn about its sources - but they are extremely difficult to detect.…

In 2003, a success story of astrophysics began on La Palma: 20 years ago in October, the first MAGIC telescope was inaugurated on the Canary Island, a huge instrument with a mirror diameter of 17 meters. Five years later, the twin MAGIC II telescope followed. The two Cherenkov telescopes measure…

For decades, we have known of the existence of matter. This "dark" matter is five times more abundant than ordinary matter and plays a crucial role in the evolution of the universe. However, we have not yet been able to identify the nature of this matter.

Anna Bertolini and Dominik Fuchs of the Max…

The workshop "Current Topics in Fundamental Physics" on the 16th of August will bring together experts from theoretical particle physics, cosmology and mathematics to discuss the latest developments at the interface of these three research areas.

Research in fundamental physics aims to answer…

The Pixel Vertex Detector (PXD), at the size of just a soda can, forms the innermost detector layer of the international Belle II experiment. It has now been installed at its destination, the SuperKEKB electron-positron accelerator in Japan. The ultrasensitive device was developed at the German…

Normally, physicists try to describe our world. It may therefore come as a surprise that over the last few decades more and more interest has developed in a theory that is at best a caricature of our universe. It bears the mysterious name N=4 Super Yang Mills Theory.

Julian Miczajka from the Max…

The CRESST experiment has specialized in the search for light dark matter particles, lighter than 1 Gigaelectronvolts (1 GeV). In order to reliably measure the tiny energy released by these particles in the detectors, those must be very precisely tuned. The scientists involved in CRESST are now…