dark matter mural

In early 2022, a 20m long mural was commissioned in the hallway leading to the dark matter laboratory at the University of Melbourne. The following is a summary of each different element of the mural and the brief snippets of inspiration behind the imagery and artistic representation of part of the dark matter story.

Introduction

What is the universe made of? Elements and what we can see and understand.

Approximately is 20% observable ‘ordinary’ matter, the rest is invisible and unknown. Inferred only by the gravitational interaction.

What we know

Vera Rubin, an American astronomer who established the presence of dark matter in spiral galaxies in the 1970s. The modulation of the earth around the sun and the flux of dark matter around the earth.

DAMA signal - the only observed dark matter signal is consistent with this phenomenon represented as the modulation graphic.

Different ideas of what dark matter might be, including different theories and ways of interacting.

Different experiments across the globe all using different approaches to find evidence of dark matter and confirm the theory.

The experiment

SABRE North (Gran Sasso, Italy) and SABRE South (Stawell, Victoria, Australia), both 1km underground.

The SABRE South vessel which will be housed in the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory.

The possibilities…

Practical applications of the research, where to next?

We are taking part in a scientific revolution that will transform our understanding of the universe.