LHC Could Be Close to Finding a New Sub-Atomic Particle

Scott Bullock

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Nov 11, 2010
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LHC Could Be Close to Finding a New Sub-Atomic Particle

Badly behaving quarks could be pointing to a new elementary particle, and the Large Hadron Collider might be able to hunt it down by the end of this year.

When a proton and antiproton are smashed together at nearly light-speed inside the Tevatron Particle Collider in Illinois the Top Quarks, the heaviest of six types of quarks and one of the smallest particles in existance, aren't quite behaving they way the Standard Model of particle physics says they should be. This is a rather big deal. Now the Large Hadron Collider, the largest particle accelerator in the world, could be mere months away from discovering the new elementary particle that's been screwing with the quarks.

Teams at the Tevatron first started noticing the quarks flying off in the wrong directions back in 2008, but these tests could have been flukes, or perhaps a problem with the equipment. Scientists are nothing if not cautious, so nearly four years and hundreds of collisions later, scientists are almost ready to say something is definitely wrong. Where the Standard Model says nine percent of top quarks should be flying off in the direction of the proton beam, the actual number is closer to 45 percent.

The possibility of this particle breaking the Standard Model has stirred physicists up into a frenzy of predictions and theories, trying to make sense of the results of the Tevatron tests. Now if only we had a way to test these theories, like some sort of large device that could collide hadrons ...

Well, we do. Some scientists, like Johns Hopkins University's Markus Schulze, believe that the particle could be discovered with the Large Hadron Collider by the end of 2011. Finding this mystery particle, says Schulze, "would be a beautiful and delicate signal of physics beyond the standard model."

"Particle physicists know that the standard model is incomplete," says Moira Gresham of the University of Michigan. "We've been waiting a long time to get some more concrete hints."

Source: Wired [http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/lhc-new-particle/]
(Image) [http://www.flickr.com/photos/11304375@N07/2046228644/]

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Pilkingtube

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Mar 24, 2010
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You know, the guy that manages to figure this out is going to vanish as he reaches "Level 2" of the real world. Can I ask, what is the point in the LHC other than finding the Higgs-Boson(sp?) particle thing? This stuff is just way too over my head, but good luck to them!
 

Optimystic

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Sep 24, 2008
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Pilkingtube said:
You know, the guy that manages to figure this out is going to vanish as he reaches "Level 2" of the real world. Can I ask, what is the point in the LHC other than finding the Higgs-Boson(sp?) particle thing? This stuff is just way too over my head, but good luck to them!
This should help clear it up:


Alpinekat, the vocalist on this video, actually worked at CERN and wrote the song while commuting to and from the site.
 

gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
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One giant leap for sub-atomic physics,

One epic revision of wherever they keep the theories.
 

Pilkingtube

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Mar 24, 2010
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Optimystic said:
Pilkingtube said:
You know, the guy that manages to figure this out is going to vanish as he reaches "Level 2" of the real world. Can I ask, what is the point in the LHC other than finding the Higgs-Boson(sp?) particle thing? This stuff is just way too over my head, but good luck to them!
This should help clear it up:


Alpinekat, the vocalist on this video, actually worked at CERN and wrote the song while commuting to and from the site.
Ugh, mah brain. >_<

So it's been cleared up for me I guess, the point of the LHC is for scientists to find somewhere to secretly have a dance party?
 

Optimystic

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Sep 24, 2008
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Pilkingtube said:
So it's been cleared up for me I guess, the point of the LHC is for scientists to find somewhere to secretly have a dance party?
Science itself is reason enough to dance :-D
 

Blend

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Dec 16, 2010
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Optimystic said:
Pilkingtube said:
You know, the guy that manages to figure this out is going to vanish as he reaches "Level 2" of the real world. Can I ask, what is the point in the LHC other than finding the Higgs-Boson(sp?) particle thing? This stuff is just way too over my head, but good luck to them!
This should help clear it up:


Alpinekat, the vocalist on this video, actually worked at CERN and wrote the song while commuting to and from the site.
The internet has finally come home
 

Blueruler182

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May 21, 2010
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Whenever I read about the particle collider I imagine a yellow smiley face icon and a red smiley face icon being shot through giant tunnels and ramming head first in a scene of gore so happy that the joker would be appalled. Curse you, science!!!

That's pretty much all I got from this article. Here's looking forward to more doomsday theories!
 

Pilkingtube

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Mar 24, 2010
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Optimystic said:
Pilkingtube said:
So it's been cleared up for me I guess, the point of the LHC is for scientists to find somewhere to secretly have a dance party?
Science itself is reason enough to dance :-D
See, now i've got this weird image in my head of Stephen Hawking and Brian Cox having a dance-off.. for science!
 

KeyMaster45

Gone Gonzo
Jun 16, 2008
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Awesome, call me when the thing helps us figure out faster than light travel and we can start harassing pre-space civilizations on other planets.
 

imnot

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Apr 23, 2010
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Blend said:
Optimystic said:
Pilkingtube said:
You know, the guy that manages to figure this out is going to vanish as he reaches "Level 2" of the real world. Can I ask, what is the point in the LHC other than finding the Higgs-Boson(sp?) particle thing? This stuff is just way too over my head, but good luck to them!
This should help clear it up:


Alpinekat, the vocalist on this video, actually worked at CERN and wrote the song while commuting to and from the site.
The internet has finally come home
It gets better

Im stocked up for the residence cascade, are you?
 

Hippobatman

Resident Mario sprite
Jun 18, 2008
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You know, stuff like this is awesome. I revel in pride and happiness when I read that we're discovering new things about the universe.

... It's a shame that I can't comprehend what they're doing, though. Physics definitely aren't my strong side.
 

Veloxe

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Oct 5, 2010
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imnotparanoid said:
It gets better

Im stocked up for the residence cascade, are you?
So that's why we have no Episode 3, Freeman is busy doing actual science.
 

imnot

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Apr 23, 2010
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Veloxe said:
imnotparanoid said:
It gets better

Im stocked up for the residence cascade, are you?
So that's why we have no Episode 3, Freeman is busy doing actual science.
Theres more...

D:
[HEADING=3]D:[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]D:[/HEADING]
[HEADING=1]D:[/HEADING]
 

Leaper

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Jun 3, 2009
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Pilkingtube said:
You know, the guy that manages to figure this out is going to vanish as he reaches "Level 2" of the real world. Can I ask, what is the point in the LHC other than finding the Higgs-Boson(sp?) particle thing? This stuff is just way too over my head, but good luck to them!
Well, apart from confirming or denying loads of theories, finding clues for proving existence of other dimensions, pararel universes, answers for big bang and unraveling mysteries or singularities... nothing.

Honestly, the only place I've seen mentioning Higgs bosson is here in escapist, LHC has so many uses that I just can't wait for their discoveries.