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The LHCb experiment relies on this ultraprecise vertex detector to spot the tiny recrackerlike decays of B mesons.
CERN

Physicists detect whi of new particle at the Large Hadron Collider

By Adrian Cho Apr. 18, 2017 , 4:45 PM

For decades, particle physicists have yearned for physics beyond their triedandtrue standard model. Now, they are nding signs of
something unexpected at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the worlds biggest atom smasher at CERN, the European particle physics
laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. The hints come not from the LHCs two large detectors, which have yielded no new particles since
they bagged the last missing piece of the standard model, the Higgs boson, in 2012, but from a smaller detector, called LHCb, that
precisely measures the decays of familiar particles.

The latest signal involves deviations in the decays of particles called B mesonsweak evidence on its own. But together with other hints,
it could point to new particles lying on the highenergy horizon. This has never happened before, to observe a set of coherent deviations
that could be explained in a very economical way with one single new physics contribution, says Joaquim Matias, a theorist at the
Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain. Matias says the evidence is strong enough for a discovery claim, but others urge caution.

The LHC smashes protons together at unprecedented energy to try to blast into existence massive new particles, which its two big
detectors, ATLAS and CMS, would spot. LHCb focuses on familiar particles, in particular B mesons, using an exquisitely sensitive tracking
detector to sni out the tiny explosive decays.

B mesons are made of fundamental particles called quarks. Familiar protons and neutrons are made of two avors of quarks, up and
down, bound in trios. Heavier quark avorscharm, strange, top, and bottomcan be created, along with their antimatter counterparts,
in highenergy particle collisions; they pair with antiquarks to form mesons.

Lasting only a thousandth of a nanosecond, B mesons potentially provide a window onto new physics. Thanks to quantum uncertainty,
their interiors roil with particles that it in and out of existence and can aect how they decay. Any new particles tickling the innards of B

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mesonseven ones too massive for the LHC to createcould cause the rates and details of those decays to deviate from predictions in
the standard model. Its an indirect method of hunting new particles with a proven track record. In the 1970s, when only the up, down, and
strange quarks were known, physicists predicted the existence of the charm quark by discovering oddities in the decays of K mesons (a
family of mesons all containing a strange quark bound to an antiquark).

In their latest result, reported today in a talk at CERN, LHCb physicists nd that when one type of B meson decays into a K meson, its
byproducts areskewed: The decay produces a muon (a cousin of the electron) and an antimuon less often than it makes an electron and
a positron. In the standard model, those rates should be equal, says Guy Wilkinson, a physicist at the University of Oxford in the United

Kingdom and spokesperson for the 770member LHCb team. This measurement is of particular interest because theoretically its very,
very clean, he says.

Strangely familiar

A new process appears to be modifying one of the standard ways a B meson decays to a K meson. It may involve a new forcecarrying particle called a Z'
that avoids creating a shortlived top quark.

Standard model decay Possible new decay

Neutral weak Possible new
force boson, Z Muon, + particle, Z' +
Charged weak Antimuon,
force boson, W

b t s b s

d d d d
B meson K meson B meson K meson

Bottom quark Strange quark Top quark Anti-down quark

V. ALTOUNIAN/SCIENCE

The result is just one of half a dozen faint clues LHCb physicists have found that all seem to jibe. For example, in 2013, they examined the
angles at which particles emerge in such B meson decays and found that they didnt quite agree with predictions.

What all those anomalies point to is less certain. Within the standard model, a B meson decays to a K meson only through a complicated
loop process in which the bottom quark briey turns into a top quark before becoming a strange quark. To do that, it has to emit and
reabsorb a W boson, a force particle that conveys the weak force (see graphic, previous page).

The new data suggest the bottom quark might morph directly into a strange quarka change the standard model forbidsby spitting out
a new particle called a Zboson. That hypothetical cousin of the Z boson would be the rst particle beyond the standard model and would
add a new force to theory. The extra decay process would lower production of muons, explaining the anomaly. It sort of an ad hoc
construct, but it ts the data beautifully, says Wolfgang Altmannshofer, a theorist at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Others have
proposed that a quarkelectron hybrid called a leptoquark might briey materialize in the loop process and provide another way to
explain the discrepancies.

Of course, the case for new physics could be a mirage of statistical uctuations. Physicists with ATLAS and CMS 18 months ago reported
hintsofahugelymassivenewparticleonlytoseethemfadeawaywithmoredata. The current signs are about as strong as those
were, Altmannshofer says.

The fact that physicists are using LHCb to search in the weeds for signs of something new underscores the fact that the LHC hasnt yet
lived up to its promise. ATLAS and CMS were the detectors that were going to discover new things, and LHCb was going to be more
complementary, Matias says. But things go as they go.

If the Zor leptoquarks exist, then the LHC might have a chance to blast them into bona de, albeit eeting, existence, Matias says. The
LHC is now revving up after its winter shutdown. Next month, the particle hunters will return to their quest.

Posted in: Physics

DOI: 10.1126/science.aal1066

Adrian Cho

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Jointhediscussion

RobertOldershaw2daysago
Agoodandinstructivearticle,butdoes1hint+1hint=awhiff?

Whenoneofthoseinvolvedintheresearchcommentsthatapossibleexplanationforthehintsis"sortofanadhocconstruct,butitfitsthedata
beautifully",shouldonebeconcernedwithhowdesperateparticletheoristshavebecome?
1 Reply Share

TJ>RobertOldershawadayago
Yes,hintscanadduptoawhiff.

:D

Awhiffofsomethingisnotproofofit,itisahintthatsomethingisthere...soTWOhintsisastrongwhiffofsomething.

Youseemtotheaddingemotionalbiastotheinterpretationthatisnotinthearticleatleast,byconflating"lookingwithallavailable
instruments"with"desperation".

Typically,whensomeonemakesthattypeofleapininterpretation,itreflectstheirownfeelingsonthetopic.

Areyouinsomewayopposedtoparticlephysics/thestandardmodel,andperhapsaproponentofanalternateexplanation?

And,yes,thedatamayaddupanddilutetheresultsthusfar,intoanothernoiseeidolon....but,mayalsofleshitoutandrevealitstrueform,
etc.

Onemustlooktofind,and,alldiscoveriesstartwithsomeonethinkingTOlooksomewhere,WITHOUTknowingwhattheywillfind...

.....itsaprocess.
seemore

Reply Share

RobertOldershaw>TJadayago
IhavemerelybeenfollowingdevelopmentsintheWIMP,GUT,stringtheory,supersymmetry,axion,sterileneutrino,anthropic
reasoningand"multiverse"era.Closely,andforatleast4decades

I"mallforexperiments,andthemorethemerrier.Butthegoalistolearnfromexperiments,moveawayfromfailingideas,eschew
hype,andavoidsearchesforunicornsattheendoftheenergyrainbow.

Oneperson"s"bias'mightbeanotherperson'sseriousconcernforthehealthoftheoreticalphysics.
Reply Share

TJ>RobertOldershaw5hoursago
That'swonderful....but,theStandardModelisnotexactlyaunicorn,sotheanalogyisnotexactlyaptinthiscase.

So,sure,alotoftheideasyouhavementioneddidnotpanout,and,somedo,andsomemorethanothers,etc,buttothrow
outthebabywiththebathwatercanbeabadidea.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:KRSUt1bviakJ:www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/physicistsdetectwhiffnewparticlelargeha 3/6
20/04/2017 PhysicistsdetectwhiffofnewparticleattheLargeHadronCollider|Science|AAAS
outthebabywiththebathwatercanbeabadidea.

PartofHOWwelearnfromexperimentsisprovingthenullhypothesis.

Wetookmanydecadestofindthatsomehypothesisactuallyworked,and,thatsomedidnot.

So,sure,alotofnullhypothesissimplyresultedinusconfirmingthatthehypothesiswaspartofthebathwater,but,others
resultedinfindingoutWHYitwasbathwater,and,wherethebaby'sboundarieswere.

:D

So,asyouseemtohavesaidthatparticlephysicsisawasteoftime,andtheyarenow,simply"desperate",whatwouldyou,
afteryour~4decadesofinquiry,suggestisthemoreefficient/recommendedroutetounderstandinghowtheuniverse
works?
Reply Share

HansDunkelberg>TJadayago
Atip:tolearnhowtogetyourtextintoitalicsorothertypographicvarieties,google"BBCode"!
Reply Share

WolfgangAltmannshofer>RobertOldershawadayago
Iliketocompareparticlephysiciststoexplorers.
Wearecurrentlyinunknownterritoryandwedon'tknowwhatwemightdiscover.

Ifthehintsweareseeingnowarefirstsignsofsomethingnew,theyarelikelyonlyafewpiecesofamuchbiggerpuzzle.
Evenifexplanationslooklike"adhocconstructs"atthemoment,theymightverywellturnouttobepartsofnewfundamentalstructures.
Reply Share

DaveKabay>WolfgangAltmannshoferadayago
FullyagreeWolfgang.Robertseemstobeaninterestedspoilerwhichweneedbutneedtoignoreanddreamourdreams.Sowhatif
1000dreamsleadto1greatreality.Itsworthdreaming.

Davekabay
Reply Share

S.P.Nova>DaveKabayadayago
Dowereallywantto"ignore"dissentingopinions?InSCIENCE?
Arewesosurethatwehaveamonopolyonacceptabledreams?
Reply Share

WilliamFrixadayago
Whenyousmashtwocarstogether,youdon'tgetnewcars.AnyparticlethatlastsforlessthanamillisecondIwouldquestionastowhetheritisa
particleorafragmentofaparticle.
Reply Share

DoktorWunderbar>WilliamFrixadayago
Atthatscale,itdoesn'treallyworkthatway.Aparticlecan'tfragmentintosmallerbitsofitselfbutitsmassandenergycan,undertheright
circumstances,bedividedintodifferentparticleswithdifferentproperties.
Reply Share

pjsx>WilliamFrixadayago
AmillisecondisaneternitywhenyouexistatthePlanckscale
Reply Share

S.P.Nova>pjsxadayago
Isthisfromfirsthandexperience?
Reply Share

RobertOldershaw>WilliamFrixadayago
IthinkFeynmanofferedtheanalogythatcolliderphysicsinterpretationswerelikesmashingtwoclockstogetheratnearlythespeedoflight,
andthentryingtounderstandwhataclockisandhowitworksfromthemangleddebristhatresults.

Suchinterpretationsmightasmuch"art"asscience.
Reply Share

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