Large Hadron Collider Discovers First New Particle
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The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), famously engaged in the quest for the Higgs boson, has turned up a heavier variant of a sub-atomic particle first discovered a quarter-century ago, scientists reported Thursday.
The newcomer is called Chi-b(3P), which was uncovered in the debris from colliding protons, according to research published in the open-access online journal arXiv.
Like the elusive Higgs and the photon, it is a boson, meaning it is a particle that carries force.
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But while the Higgs is not believed to be made of smaller particles, the Chi-b(3) comprises two relatively heavy particles, the beauty quark and its antiquark.
They are bonded by the so-called "strong" force which also causes the atomic nucleus to stick together.
The Chi-b(3P) is a heavier version of a particle that was first observed around 25 years ago.
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"The Chi-b(3P) is a particle that was predicted by many theorists, but was not observed at previous experiments," said James Walder, a British physicist quoted by the University of Birmingham in a press release.
Described by some as the world's largest machine, the LHC is located in a 17-mile (27km) ring-shaped tunnel near Geneva that straddles the Franco-Swiss border up to 580 feet (175m) below ground.
Streams of protons are fired in opposite, but parallel, directions in the tunnel.
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The beams are then bent by powerful magnets so that some of the protons collide in four giant labs, which are lined with detectors to record the sub-atomic debris that results.
On December 13, physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said they had narrowed the search for the Higgs -- the so-called "God particle" that may confer mass.
The theory behind the Higgs is that mass does not derive from particles themselves.
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Instead, it comes from a boson that interacts strongly with some particles but less, if at all, with others.
Finding the Chi-b(3P) is a further test of the powers of the LHC, which became the world's biggest particle collider when it was completed in 2008.
"Our new measurements are a great way to test theoretical calculations of the forces that act on fundamental particles, and will move us a step closer to understanding how the Universe is held together," said Miram Watson, a British research fellow working on the CHi-b(3) investigation.
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A massive collaborative effort that brings in physicists from around the world, the LHC has cost more than 6.03 billion Swiss francs (roughly $4.5 billion).