Discovery of New Subatomic Particle Containing Two Charm Quarks
Summary
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- Scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Geneva have discovered a new subatomic particle containing two charm quarks and one down quark.
- This new particle weighs four times more than a proton and has a lifespan six times shorter than a previously known particle.
- Discovered following upgrades to the LHCb detector in 2023, this is the first new particle found that will enhance understanding of the strong force and quantum chromodynamics.
Scientists affiliated with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva have identified a new subatomic particle.
Announced at the Moriond conference, the newly discovered particle is composed of two charm quarks and one down quark. Although its structure resembles that of a proton — a fundamental building block of matter and the universe — this particle’s mass is four times greater than that of a proton.
According to researchers, this is the first new particle discovered since upgrades were made to the LHCb detector in 2023. With this discovery, the total number of particles detected by the Large Hadron Collider has reached 80.
A similar type of particle was identified in 2017, but it contained an up quark instead of a down quark. The newly discovered particle’s lifespan is six times shorter than that earlier particle, making its detection particularly challenging.
This breakthrough will aid physicists in better understanding the strong force that binds particles together, as well as the principles of quantum chromodynamics, which governs the behavior of quarks and gluons in the universe.