Supercomputers on the trail of dark matter

Almost all mass on Earth, humans included, derives from the atomic nuclei. These nuclei consist mainly of protons and neutrons, also called nucleons. Each nucleon in turn is made of three constituent quarks. However, the number of quark particles in the nucleon is actually much higher. This is due to what are known as quantum fluctuations, where pairs of particles and anti-particles form spontaneously in a vacuum and immediately disintegrate again. A research team from Cyprus, Germany and Italy ...