Lost quantum traces could reveal dark matter at the Large Hadron Collider

Particle physics is entering a new age of exploration. For decades, theory provided a map that pointed physicists towards new particles and told them roughly what to look for. Now, as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) prepares for its most powerful incarnation yet, we have reached the limits of the map. In late June, the LHC shut down high-energy operations ahead of a major overhaul. When it switches back on in 2030 as the High-Luminosity LHC, it will produce around 10 times as many collisions as before. Somewhere in that sea of data, physicists hope, may be signs of particles and forces we have never seen. This situation leaves particle physicists with an unusual problem. The upgraded LHC will give them more territory to explore than ever before, but fewer clues about where the treasure is buried. Worse, its torrent of collisions will create an extraordinary computational challenge: any glimpse of new physics may be buried under billions of perfectly ordinary events. Sarah Alam Malik, a particle physicist at University College London, thinks quantum…