After nearly 100 years, scientists may have detected dark matter (awaiting reproducibility now) by University of Tokyo

Key phrase, reproducibility. )

**Breakthrough observations from Fermi telescope**

Using the latest data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Professor Tomonori Totani from the Department of Astronomy at the University of Tokyo believes he has finally detected the specific gamma rays predicted by the annihilation of theoretical dark matter particles.

"We detected gamma rays with a photon energy of 20 gigaelectronvolts (or 20 billion electronvolts, an extremely large amount of energy) extending in a halolike structure toward the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The gamma-ray emission component closely matches the shape expected from the dark matter halo," said Totani.

The observed energy spectrum, or range of gamma-ray emission intensities, matches the emission predicted from the annihilation of hypothetical WIMPs, with a mass approximately 500 times that of a proton. The frequency of WIMP annihilation estimated from the measured gamma-ray intensity also falls within the range of theoretical predictions.

Importantly, these gamma-ray measurements are not easily explained by other, more common astronomical phenomena or gamma-ray emissions. Therefore, Totani considers these data a strong indication of gamma-ray emission from dark matter, which has been sought for many years.

"If this is correct, to the extent of my knowledge, it would mark the first time humanity has 'seen' dark matter. And it turns out that dark matter is a new particle not included in the current standard model of particle physics. This signifies a major development in astronomy and physics," said Totani.
Study:
https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2507.07209
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-years-scientists-dark.html