A new theoretical study suggests fusion reactors could do more than generate energy, they might also produce particles linked to dark matter.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati say they have worked out, at least on paper, how fusion reactors could produce subatomic particles known as axions, a challenge that stumped two of America’s most famous fictional physicists.
In the CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” particle physicists Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, who share an apartment, grapple with the same idea across three episodes in Season 5 but never solve it.
UC physics Professor Jure Zupan and his co-authors, all theoretical physicists from the Fermi National Laboratory, MIT and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, now report what they consider a workable approach. Their study appears in the Journal of High Energy Physics.
What Are Axions and Why Do They Matter?
Axions are particles that have not yet been confirmed, but many physicists think they could be connected to dark matter. Dark matter matters because it helps scientists explain how the universe developed after the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago.
Although dark matter has never been detected directly, researchers believe it makes up most of the universe’s matter, with ordinary, visible matter accounting for only a smaller share. It is called dark matter because, unlike normal matter, it does not absorb or reflect light.
Even so, scientists infer that dark matter exists because of the way its gravity shapes what we can see. Its pull changes how galaxies move through space and how stars travel within those galaxies. One leading idea is that dark matter could consist of an extremely light particle known as the axion.
Fusion Reactors as Particle Factories
In their study, Zupan and his co-authors looked at a deuterium and tritium fusion reactor design that uses a lithium-lined vessel and is being developed by an international collaboration in southern France. Along with generating energy, this kind of reactor could also create particles from the dark sector because fusion produces a very large number of neutrons.
“Neutrons interact with material in the walls. The resulting nuclear reactions can then create new particles,” he said.
The second way the new particles can get generated is when neutrons bounce off other particles and slow down, releasing energy in a process physicists call bremsstrahlung or “braking radiation.”
The new particles could be axions, or at least axion-like particles. And that’s where the show’s fictional physicists failed, Zupan said.
Where Fiction Fell Short
“The Big Bang Theory” ran from 2007 to 2019 and earned seven Emmys. It remains among the most-watched shows of any streaming service, according to Nielsen.
“The general idea from our paper was discussed in ‘The Big Bang Theory’ years ago, but Sheldon and Leonard couldn’t make it work,” Zupan said.
In one episode, a whiteboard features an equation and diagram that Zupan said describes how axions are generated from the sun. In a subsequent episode, another equation appears on a different board. Below the calculations in a different marker color is an unmistakable sad face — a symbol of failure.
Zupan said Leonard and Sheldon’s equation estimates the likelihood of detecting axions from their proposed fusion reactor compared to the sun — with discouraging results, which explains the sad face.
“The sun is a huge object producing a lot of power. The chance of having new particles produced from the sun that would stream to Earth is larger than having them produced in fusion reactors using the same processes as in the Sun. However, one can still produce them in reactors using a different set of processes,” he said.
Science as an Inside Joke
The characters in the show never talk about axions or the whiteboards in the episodes. They’re just an Easter egg for physicists in a show famous for incorporating scientific concepts like Schrodinger’s cat and the Doppler effect into its storylines, along with cameos by Nobel laureates and “Star Trek” alumni alike.
“That’s why it’s fantastic to watch as a scientist,” Zupan said. “There are many layers to the jokes.”
Reference: “Searching for exotic scalars at fusion reactors” by Chaja Baruch, Patrick J. Fitzpatrick, Tony Menzo, Yotam Soreq, Sokratis Trifinopoulos and Jure Zupan, 27 October 2025, Journal of High Energy Physics.
DOI: 10.1007/JHEP10(2025)215
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10 Comments
A new theoretical study suggests fusion reactors could do more than generate energy, they might also produce particles linked to dark matter.
VERY GOOG!
Please ask the researchers to think deeply:
Can dark matter produce particles?
When we pursue the ultimate truth of all things, the space in which our bodies and all things exist may itself be the final and deepest puzzle we need to explore. This is not only the pursuit of physics, but also the most magnificent exploration of the origin of the universe by human reason.
Based on the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT), space is an uniformly incompressible physical entity. Space-time vortices are the products of topological phase transitions of the tipping points in space, are the point defects in spacetime. Point defects do not only impact the thermodynamic properties, but are also central to kinetic processes. They create all things and shape the world through spin and self-organization.
In today’s physics, some so-called peer-reviewed journals—including Physical Review Letters, Nature, Science, and others—stubbornly insist on and promote the following:
1. Even though θ and τ particles exhibit differences in experiments, physics can claim they are the same particle. This is science.
2. Even though topological vortices and antivortices have identical structures and opposite rotational directions, physics can define their structures and directions as entirely different. This is science.
3. Even though two sets of cobalt-60 rotate in opposite directions and experiments reveal asymmetry, physics can still define them as mirror images of each other. This is science.
4. Even though vortex structures are ubiquitous—from cosmic accretion disks to particle spins—physics must insist that vortex structures do not exist and require verification. Only the particles that like God, Demonic, or Angelic are the most fundamental structures of the universe. This is science.
5. Even though everything occupies space and maintains its existence in time, physics must still debate and insist on whether space exists and whether time is a figment of the human mind. This is science.
6. Even though space, with its non-stick, incompressible, and isotropic characteristics, provides a solid foundation for the development of physics, physics must still insist that the ideal fluid properties of space do not exist. This is science.
and go on.
Is this the counterintuitive science they widely promote? Compromising with pseudo academic publications and peer review by pseudo scholars is an insult to science and public intelligence. Some so-called scholars no longer understand what shame is. The study of Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) reminds us that the most profound problems in physics often lie at the intersection of different theories. By exploring these border regions, we can not only resolve contradictions in existing theories but also discover new physical phenomena and application possibilities.
Under the topological vortex architecture, it is highly challenging for even two hydrogen atoms or two quarks to be perfectly symmetrical, let alone counter-rotating two sets of cobalt-60. Contemporary physics and so-called peer-reviewed publications (including Physical Review Letters, Science, Nature, etc.) stubbornly believe that two sets of counter rotating cobalt-60 are two mirror images of each other, constructing a more shocking pseudoscientific theoretical framework in the history of science than the “geocentric model”. This pseudo scientific framework and system have seriously hindered scientific progress and social development.
For nearly a century, physics has been manipulated by this pseudo scientific theoretical system and the interest groups behind it, wasting a lot of manpower, funds, and time. A large amount of pseudo scientific research has been conducted, and countless pseudo scientific papers have been published, causing serious negative impacts on scientific and social progress, as well as humanistic development.
Complexity does not necessarily mean that there is no logical and architectural framework to follow. Mathematics is the language and tool that reveals the motion of spacetime, rather than the motion itself. Although the physical form of spacetime vortices is extremely simple, their interaction patterns are highly complex, and we must develop more and richer mathematical languages to describe and understand them.
The development of the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) reflects a progression from concrete physical phenomena to abstract mathematical modeling and, ultimately, to interdisciplinary unification. Its core innovation lies in forging the continuous spacetime geometry of general relativity with the discrete interactions of quantum field theory within the same topological dynamical system. The core idea of TVT — space is physical, and matter is its topological excitation—already provides a solid and elegant scientific path for understanding the origin of all things.
——Excerpted from https://scitechdaily.com/microscope-spacecrafts-most-precise-test-of-key-component-of-the-theory-of-general-relativity/#comment-909171 and https://t.pineal.cn/blogs/6255/A-Mathematical-and-Physical-Analysis-On-the-Origin-of-Objects.
Not at all qualified (or that well funded) to perform experiments involving fusion reactors and/or exotic new particles, with four videos already uploaded to my personal video channel effectively demonstrating some motive effects of rotation imposed upon wheels and disks embedded in the ambient field of earth’s gravity spanning some thirteen years, I believe I have already proved (time and again) that there is no need for imaginary dark matter to account for the seemingly strange motions of distant galaxies and/or the stars that reside within them (e.g., https://odysee.com/@charlesgshaver:d?view=home). Merry Christmas, all.
Thank you for your attention and comments on the Rotation.
The states of matter are essentially different manifestations of the topological structure of space. With deeper exploration of topological matter, especially strongly correlated topological systems and non-equilibrium topological states, the topological classification paradigm will be further refined. Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) is expected to become a key theoretical tool for understanding the grand chain from quantum entanglement to cosmic structure, ultimately enabling a fundamental reconstruction of the classification of the physical world.
——Extracted from https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/1987696851428848667.
Dr. Zhang, I can see how the radiant, pulsing, angular nature of lines of gravity force can suggest space to be a fluid with particular properties suggesting vortices. However, I’m thirteen years beyond mere theory, with multiple down-to-earth demonstration videos.
Thank you for browsing and commenting.
The public is not fools. I believe there are many people like you, and far more than 13 years. The Physical Review series of publications constructs a more shocking pseudo scientific theoretical system and framework in the history of science than the “geocentric model”, using two sets of cobalt 60 objects that rotate in opposite directions as mirror images, topological vortices and their antivortices as completely different vortices, CP violation, parity non conservation, etc. They no longer know what is dirty, ugly, and shameful. The American Physical Society’s misguidance and oversight bear an undeniable responsibility for the rampant pseudoscience in physics today.
…What? You don’t have your own fusion reactor?
Just kidding, Charles. Happy Christmas.
Cute, Robert. Thanks, likewise.
thanks for this
Dark matter mechanically has the same attributes as our own atmosphere we breathe transparent and what we call dark matter shows the same transparent mechanism as the atmospheres matter , When observing space dark matter shows a glimpse of a (Translucent) shift under very specific circumstances . Physics adjusts unknowns into a few categories to fill the persistent gaps in their calculations , what I’m saying applies in conjunction to how many different changes that neutrinos change each time they have contact with objects .( a calculation with in a calculation that the correct answer is dependant on what and how , will it move or not move , is it or not a element ) if possible then the new pieces of all the puzzles can have depths . When a particle particulate ( smoke ) enters the atmosphere there is a shift from transparent to Translucent and when thermal dynamics or water vapor enter a shift is also mechanically shifting the atmosphere and we have mechanisms to catch the shift for measurement we made experiments to show what elementary elements of the air we breath . dark matter find the shift ? pattern find the physics behind it .