The low-energy frontier

Particle Physicists are developing a number of different types of experiment to search for the very weakly interacting sub-e V particles (WISPs) that would help to reveal some fundamental states of matter and the contents of the universe. There are three basic types of WISP, which, because of their very weak interaction with everyday world, are said to occupy a hidden sector of nature. These include the 'axion-like particle' (ALP), more generalized form of the axion, 'photon-like particles', having a spin equal to one and hidden-sector analogues of photons, and 'minicharged particles' (MCPs), that are predicted to have an extremely small charge. The results of research experiments to study the WISPs, that are expected in near future, can help to eliminate many of the possible solutions of string theory, and to develop new insights in the area of elementary particle physics and cosmology.