Science 3 min read

Scientists Working on the LHC Just Discovered Two New Particles

Scientists working at the LHC have discovered two new particles. | Image By Agnieszka Skalska | Shutterstock

Scientists working at the LHC have discovered two new particles. | Image By Agnieszka Skalska | Shutterstock

After some time, the LHC has once again made an astounding discovery of two new particles and a potential third one.

CERN scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have confirmed the existence of two new particles that have never been observed before. Furthermore, they are also currently looking into evidence of a potential third one.

The two new particles are said to be baryons based on predictions by the standard quark model. The recently discovered particles are reportedly in the same family of particles as the protons in the particle acceleration experiments conducted in LHC.

Baryons are said to constitute most of the known universe. They are classified based on the principles of the standard model of elementary particles. They are reportedly composed of triplets of fundamental particles commonly called as quarks which have different types – up, down, top, bottom, charm, and strange.

A proton, which is also a baryon, is composed of two up quarks and one down quark. Conversely, neutrons are made up of one up quark and two down quarks. However, the two new particles have a different quark composition.

The baryon particles dubbed as Σb(6097)+ and Σb(6097) are said to have a combination of two up quarks and one bottom quark, and two down quarks and one bottom quark respectively. Thus, the said compositions made the two particles bottom baryons, putting them in the same category as the four previous particles studied by the researchers at Fermilab.

But, what makes the two discovery unique is that they are the first particles observed by the scientists to have higher-mass counterparts. Apparently, they are about six times more massive than a proton.

Read More: What Happens if you Stick Your Head Inside a Particle Accelerator?

Additionally, the supposed third particle candidate is believed to be a composite particle called a tetraquark. It is said to be an exotic type of meson, which usually has two quarks. Tetraquarks, by nature, are composed of four quarks: two quarks and two antiquarks to be exact.

The candidate particle known as Zc(4100) was detected together with two heavy quarks in the decay of heavier B mesons. However, a new particle can only be confirmed if it passes the five standard deviations threshold. Zc(4100) only has a significance of over three standard deviations. Meaning, it would require further observations for the third candidate particle to be either confirmed or disproved.

As new particles are being discovered, do you believe that CERN’s LHC is close to uncovering the mystery of our universe’s existence?

First AI Web Content Optimization Platform Just for Writers

Found this article interesting?

Let Chelle Fuertes know how much you appreciate this article by clicking the heart icon and by sharing this article on social media.


Profile Image

Chelle Fuertes

Chelle is the Product Management Lead at INK. She's an experienced SEO professional as well as UX researcher and designer. She enjoys traveling and spending time anywhere near the sea with her family and friends.

Comments (0)
Most Recent most recent
You
share Scroll to top

Link Copied Successfully

Sign in

Sign in to access your personalized homepage, follow authors and topics you love, and clap for stories that matter to you.

Sign in with Google Sign in with Facebook

By using our site you agree to our privacy policy.