Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva may have just broken up particle physics – after detecting an abnormal signal that did not come close to the standard model and suggesting a new force of nature, according to a study distributed in -a prepress server and confirmed on the official CERN website.
CERN has just surpassed the standard model
The Large Hadron Collider (LHCb) experiment at CERN has officially announced new discoveries that suggest a violation of the standard model in particle physics. This came from a 10-year analysis of data on how transient (or temporarily existing) and unstable particles called B mesons decompose into more conventional forms of matter, such as electrons.
Specifically, the new findings suggest a possible violation of the universality of the lepton flavor – which was announced during the Moriond conference on electrodebula interactions of unified theories, in addition to a CERN online seminar by the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
The standard model underpins our scientific understanding of the subatomic world and argues that particles will tend to decompose into products, such as electrons, at the same rate they do in heavier particles, very similar to an electron – called muons.
However, new findings from CERN suggest that something strange is happening. Instead of decomposing according to the standard model and producing muons and electrons at the same rate, B mesons tend to produce electrons, as if they were the preferred result.
“Interesting suggestion” is still too early to call
“We would expect this particle to decompose into the final state containing electrons and the final state containing muons at the same rate as each other,” said Chris Parkes, a particle experiment physicist at the University of Manchester, in a report from the Guardian. “What we have is an interesting indication that these two processes may not be happening at the same pace, but it is not conclusive.”
In quantum physics, the new discovery has a significance of 3.1 sigma, which means that its probability of accuracy is about one in 1,000. For those unfamiliar with quantum physics, this may seem promising, but in general, particle physicists are wary of jumping with a gun until a new discovery reaches five sigma, when the chances of the results being a coincidence are just one of a few million.
“It’s an interesting clue, but I’ve seen signs coming and going before,” Parkes said. “It happens surprisingly often.”
In particle physics, the standard model describes how particles and forces govern the subatomic universe. The theory has been fragmented over the last half century and helps scientists describe how elementary particles called quarks build neutrons and protons in atomic nuclei. It also explains how the two components of nuclei when combined with electrons make up all conventional matter.
The new shade cast on the standard model
Particle physics includes three of the four fundamental forces in nature: the weak force responsible for nuclear reactions inside the sun and electromagnetism; a strong force that binds the atomic nuclei together.
Unfortunately, the standard model does not explain everything. There is another fourth force in the universe, probably a more familiar one: gravity, which, although incredibly strong on the colossal scale of black holes, fails to represent about 95% of the universe of physicists suspected to be composed of something else entirely.
The consensus has been and remains that most of the universe is made up of dark energy, a cosmic force responsible for pushing the expansion of the universe throughout its lifetime, and also dark matter – an evasive substance that holds the cosmic web of matter – like an invisible skeleton.
However, this possible recent discovery has to do with particle physics. And “[i]If it turns out, with further analysis of the additional processes, that we were able to confirm this, it would be extremely interesting, “said Parkes. This would cast a new shadow on the standard model and create a need for something more in theory. particle physics, he added.
And the corrections bring us closer to a unified theory of physics
And Parkes believes that this latest research, when combined with other similar results from B-meson experimentation, creates a more compelling possibility.
“I’d say there’s a cautious emotion,” Parkes said. “We are intrigued because not only is this result quite significant, but it fits the pattern of previous results from the LHCb and other experiments around the world.”
“There could be a new quantum force that would cause B mesons to split into muons at the wrong rate,” said Ben Allanach, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge. “It sticks to them and stops them from breaking down into muons at the rate we’d expect.”
“This force could help explain the particular pattern of the masses of different particles of matter,” Allanach added. Although this has not yet been confirmed, particle physics is also evolving – the form of a unifying fundamental theory of physics.
This was a breaking news story and was regularly updated as new information became available.