Cern Large Hadron Collider: Scientists discover three never seen before particles, Particle Zoo 2.0?

Cern Large Hadron Collider: Scientists have discovered three never-seen-before subatomic particles while working to unlock building blocks of the universe at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This was informed by the European nuclear research centre CERN on July 6, 2022. 

The Large Hadron Collider is the machine that found the elusive ‘God particle’ or Higgs Boson, which is thought to be vital for the formation of the universe after the big bang, 13.7 billion years ago. It is a 27 km long LHC at CERN. 

These three new subatomic particles will be added to the list of new hadrons that have been found at the Large Hadron Collider. 

Large Hadron Collider Discoveries: Key Facts About 3 new particles

• The scientists have observed a new kind of “pentaquark” and the first-ever pair of “tetraquarks”.
• These quarks will help physicists better understand how quarks bind together into composite particles.
• The quarks are elementary particles that usually combine in groups of twos and threes to form hadrons such as the protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei.
• They can also combine into four-quark and five-quark particles or tetraquarks and pentaquarks.
• These three exotic particles were generated inside the collider during a collision between two high-energy particle beams. 
• The collisions achieved a record energy of 13.6 trillion electron volts (TeV) in the third run. It will continue operating for four years. 

Significance

Physicist Niels Tuning said that the more analyses they perform, the more kinds of exotic hadrons we find. He further stated they are witnessing a period of discovery similar to the 1950s, when a ‘particle zoo’ of hadrons were discovered and ultimately led to the quark model of conventional hadrons in the 1960s. We’re creating ‘particle zoo 2.0’.”

What is Large Hadron Collider?

Large Hadron Collider Purpose: The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a giant and complex machine that was built to study particles that are the smallest known building blocks of the universe. 

CERN Large Hadron Collider Discoveries 

The Large Hadron Collider was successfully reignited for the third time on July 5, 2022. This is 10 years after it enabled scientists to find the elusive ‘God particle’. Scientists hope to use Higgs Boson as a tool to learn more about the universe and its secrets. The Higgs Boson particle was discovered in 2012.