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Hopes are rising that a previously unknown particle has been discovered by the Large Hadron Collider, the particle accelerator that lies under the France-Switzerland border near Geneva. The LHC was the site of the discovery of the Higgs boson, for which the scientists who predicted its existence won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics. Data...
Published by theoretical physicists from the University of California, Irvine, in the journal Physical Review Letters, the study comes a year after a group of experimental nuclear physicists at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences identified a radioactive decay anomaly in the results of their particle acceleration experiments, pointing at the possible discovery of a previously unknown type of subatomic particle “If true, it’s revolutionary,” said Jonathan Feng, professor of physics and astronomy, in a press release. “For decades, we’ve known of four fundamental forces: gravitation, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. If confirmed by further experiments, this discovery of a possible fifth force would completely change our understanding of the universe, with consequences for the unification of forces and dark matter.”
The Hungarians were attempting to find “dark photons,” indicative of dark matter that is thought to make up 85 percent of all matter. However, as it neither absorbs nor emits light, it is impossible to detect. During the course of their study, the scientists detected a particle 30 times heavier than an electron. Feng and other researchers associated with the new study analyzed data gathered recently by Hungarians and previous experiments in this area. “The experimentalists weren’t able to claim that it was a new force,” Feng said. “They simply saw an excess of events that indicated a new particle, but it was not clear to them whether it was a matter particle or a force-carrying particle.”
During a series of experiments last year, Hungarian experimental physicists chanced upon a new particle that may be the basis of the fifth force of nature, a new study has shown.
However, according to Feng’s team, instead of the “dark photon” the Hungarians found a “protophobic X boson.” The existence of this particle is what could indicate a fifth force of nature. It is different from the existing electromagnetic forces that act on protons and electrons, interacting only with protons and neutrons, that too at very short distances. “There’s no other boson that we’ve observed that has this same characteristic,” co-author Timothy Tait, also a professor of physics and astronomy at Irvine, said. “Sometimes we also just call it the ‘X boson,’ where ‘X’ means unknown.”
The researchers put emphasis on further experimentation in the field with Feng saying that the potential fifth force could be linked to the electromagnetic and strong and weak nuclear forces as “manifestations of one grander, more fundamental force.” Feng also indicated at the existence of a parallel “dark” with its own matter and forces as compared to the universe of “normal” matter and forces. He said, “This dark sector force may manifest itself as this protophobic force were seeing as a result of the Hungarian experiment.” “In a broader sense, it fits in with our original research to understand the nature of dark matter,” Feng added.
Have Scientists Discovered The Fifth Force Of Nature?
In an exclusive interview, Nigel Lockyer, head of America's premier particle physics lab, said studying the Higgs could hasten major discoveries. He said momentum in the physics community was gathering for a machine to be built either in Europe or Asia. "Our field uniformly agrees that would be a good thing," he told the BBC. The Fermilab director added: "The Higgs is such an interesting particle - a unique particle." The Higgs boson - named after British theoretical physicist Peter Higgs - was discovered in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle smasher under the Franco-Swiss border. The detection capped a decades-long effort to detect the particle experimentally, adding the last missing piece to the theory of particle physics known as the Standard Model, or SM.
A candidate Higgs boson collision event at CMS, one of the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider
The SM explains how the building blocks of the Universe behave and interact, but physicists know it's just a stepping stone to a deeper understanding of the cosmos. For example, it doesn't provide an explanation for dark matter, dark energy or gravity. Physicists had hoped that the LHC would turn up evidence of physics phenomena not explained by the Standard Model. So far, efforts to detect new physics have come away empty-handed, but studying the Higgs in more detail might break the impasse. A successor to the Large Hadron Collider would be designed in a way that allows scientists to zero in on the Higgs boson. The LHC works by smashing beams of proton particles together, but the collisions that produce the Higgs also produce many other particles. This makes it complicated to work out which collisions produce the Higgs boson.
Dr Lockyer took over as director of Fermilab in 2013
A different type of particle smasher, called an electron-positron collider, should produce only a Higgs and another particle called a Z boson. This makes it more suitable for detailed study of the Higgs' properties. Dr Lockyer said there were currently discussions over a new electron-positron collider in China, and a linear collider that could function as a Higgs factory in Japan. Alternatively, it could be housed at Cern after the Large Hadron Collider comes to the end of its operating lifetime.
Based on a 2,700-hectare site near Chicago, Fermilab is America's premier particle physics lab
The Higgs is interesting because it is the only fundamental "scalar" particle. This means it has a "spin" of zero. Spin is an intrinsic property of particles with applications in everyday life - such as in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). "The Higgs is the first fundamental scalar that has ever been observed. And pretty much all physics beyond the Standard Model contains scalars," said Dr Lockyer. "So these scalars would mix with the Higgs - the question is how strongly. But what you're looking for is evidence of the Higgs mixing with other scalars. That would be a window into new physics."
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That article is dated July 2016. They had 3 or 4 sigma certainty and were aiming for 5 sigma. What happened since then? Is there an update? I tried a search and couldn't find anything.Standard Model of particle physics could be rewritten if new particle with 6 times the mass of Higgs Boson is confirmed .........
Awesome! In my opinion we're only scratching the surface on how much we have to learn about the true nature of our universe.
Now that's a magnet...Standard Model of particle physics could be rewritten if new particle with 6 times the mass of Higgs Boson is confirmed
Hopes are rising that a previously unknown particle has been discovered by the Large Hadron Collider, the particle accelerator that lies under the France-Switzerland border near Geneva. The LHC was the site of the discovery of the Higgs boson, for which the scientists who predicted its existence won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics. Data...
Awesome! In my opinion we're only scratching the surface on how much we have to learn about the true nature of our universe.
We’ll need that to slow down the terminators.Now that's a magnet...Standard Model of particle physics could be rewritten if new particle with 6 times the mass of Higgs Boson is confirmed
Hopes are rising that a previously unknown particle has been discovered by the Large Hadron Collider, the particle accelerator that lies under the France-Switzerland border near Geneva. The LHC was the site of the discovery of the Higgs boson, for which the scientists who predicted its existence won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics. Data...
Awesome! In my opinion we're only scratching the surface on how much we have to learn about the true nature of our universe.
