The headlines did not conceal the excitement of the journalists. There were 53 excess events observed in the XENON1T Dark Matter Experiment. They were unexplained and additional to the 232 anticipated by the theory. They could prove the existence of axions, hypothetical solar particles resembling photons, and also provide evidence for the existence of the elusive dark matter. They could indicate that there is a whole world, above and beyond the one described by the so-called standard model of particle physics – hence the excitement.
Axions were first hypothesised in the 70s, in an attempt to clear up some problems involving axial quantum symmetry anomalies. Their name evokes axioms – fundamental statements, or propositions, in mathematics and logic – but in reality they were named after Axion, a then famous brand of laundry detergent.
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