The LHCb Experiment Discovers 3 New Particles
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Named the LHCb, the beauty experiment studies the differences between antimatter and matter by looking for subatomic particles called quarks, particularly beauty quarks, also called b quarks. They are also called bottom quarks.
Quarks can double or triple up to form hadrons (neutrons and protons or they combine in more significant numbers to make exotic hadrons like tetraquarks and pentaquarks. They also come in several varieties: down, up, charm, strange, bottom, and top, and there are also antiquarks.
Many new hadrons have been found with the LHCb experiment since it first started, and now researchers have found three more quarks: pentaquark and the first pair of tetraquarks.
The new particle was first observed in the deterioration of another type of subatomic particle named a B meson. The pentaquark consists of a strange quark, a charm antiquark, a charm quark, an up, and a down.
According to scientists, it is the first pentaquark found to have a strange quark. The second subatomic particle is a “doubly electrically charged tetraquark,” made up of a charm quark, an antiquark, an up, and a down antiquark. Researchers have also seen its neutral pair.
LHCb coordinator Niels Tuning said, “The more studies are done, the more kinds of exotic hadrons we find.”
“We are seeing a period of discovery like in the 1950s when a ‘zoo of particles’ of hadrons was being discovered, which led to the quark model of hadrons in the 1960s. We see ‘particle zoo 2.0’.”
According to researchers, finding the new particles is another step towards understanding the mysterious universe we find ourselves inside.
“Finding new types of tetraquarks and pentaquarks and determining their properties will help scientists create a unified model of exotic hadrons, the particular nature of which is mostly unknown,” LHCb representative Chris Parkes said in a statement. “It can also help us to figure out hadrons better.”