[extropy-chat] NEWS: Scientists find mystery particle

J Corbally jcorb at iol.ie
Tue Nov 18 20:52:32 UTC 2003


Anybody heard this?  Appears to be new on the Beeb

>Scientists find mystery particle
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3277579.stm

>Scientists have found a sub-atomic particle they cannot explain using 
>current theories of energy and matter.
>The discovery was made by researchers based at the High Energy Accelerator 
>Research Organisation in Tsukuba.
>Classified as X(3872), the particle was seen fleetingly in an atom smasher 
>and has been dubbed the "mystery meson".
>The Japanese team says understanding its existence may require a change to 
>the Standard Model, the accepted theory of the way the Universe is 
>constructed.
..........
>X(3872) was found among the decay products of so-called beauty mesons - 
>sub-atomic particles that are produced in large numbers at the Tsukuba 
>"meson factory".
>It weighs about the same as a single atom of helium and exists for only 
>about one billionth of a trillionth of a second before it decays into 
>other longer-lived, more familiar particles.
........
>To explain it, theoretical physicists may have to modify their theory of 
>the colour force; or make X(3872) the first example of a new type of 
>meson, one that is made from four quarks (two quarks and two antiquarks).


James...




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