The ‘X17’ particle: Scientists may have discovered the fifth force of nature
A new paper suggests that the mysterious X17 subatomic particle is indicative of a fifth force of nature.

As strange as it may seem, sub atomic particle physics have been of great interest to me.

In 2016, observations from Hungarian researchers suggested the existence of an unknown type of subatomic particle.
Subsequent analyses suggested that this particle was a new type of boson, the existence of which could help explain dark matter and other phenomena in the universe.
A new paper from the same team of researchers is currently awaiting peer review.

Physicists have long known of four fundamental forces of nature: gravity, electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force.

Now, they might have evidence of a fifth force.

The discovery of a fifth force of nature could help explain the mystery of dark matter, which is proposed to make up around 85 percent of the universe’s mass. It could also pave the way for a unified fifth force theory, one that joins together electromagnetic, strong and weak nuclear forces as “manifestations of one grander, more fundamental force,” as theoretical physicist Jonathan Feng put it in 2016.

The new findings build upon a study published in 2016 that offered the first hint of a fifth force……………

The discovery of a fifth force of nature would provide a glimpse into the “dark sector”, which in general describes yet-unobservable forces that can’t readily be described by the Standard Model. Strangely, the subatomic particles in this hidden layer of our universe hardly interact with the more observable particles of the Standard Model.

A fifth force could scientists better understand how these two layers coexist.

“If true, it’s revolutionary,” Weng said in 2016. “For decades, we’ve known of four fundamental forces: gravitation, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. If confirmed by further experiments, this discovery of a possible fifth force would completely change our understanding of the universe, with consequences for the unification of forces and dark matter.”