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# Is the New Physics Here? Atom Smashers Get an Antimatter Surprise

Posted by on Nov. 18, 2011 at 11:32 PM
• 11 Replies
2 moms liked this

Thought this was way cool stuff!  :)

The world's largest atom smasher, designed as a portal to a new view of physics, has produced its first peek at the unexpected: bits of matter that don't mirror the behavior of their antimatter counterparts.

The discovery, if confirmed, could rewrite the known laws of particle physics and help explain why our universe is made mostly of matter and not antimatter.

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider, the 17-mile (27 km) circular particle accelerator underground near Geneva, Switzerland, have been colliding protons at high speeds to create explosions of energy. From this energy many subatomic particles are produced.

Now researchers at the accelerator's LHCb experiment are reporting that some matter particles produced inside the machine appear to be behaving differently from their antimatter counterparts, which might provide a partial explanation to the mystery of antimatter. [The Coolest Little Particles in Nature]

Missing antimatter

Scientists think the universe started off with roughly equal amounts of matter and antimatter. (Particles of antimatter have the same mass of their twins but an opposite charge.) Somehow over the ensuing 14 billion years, most of the antimatter was destroyed, leaving a leftover universe of mainly matter.

One potential explanation for this outcome is called "charge-parity violation."  CP violation means that particles of opposite charge behave differently from one another.

The LHCb researchers found preliminary evidence that this is happening when particles called D-mesons, which contain "charmed quarks," decay into other particles. The whimsically named charmed quarks, like many exotic particles, are so unstable, they last only a fraction of a second. They quickly decay into other particles, and it is these products that the experiment detects. ("LHCb" is short for LHC-beauty, another flavor of quark.)

From the experiment, the researchers found a 0.8 percent difference in the probabilities that the matter and antimatter versions of these particles would decay into a particular end state.

Ruling out a fluke

When it comes to particle physics, it's all about the quality of statistics. Measuring something once is meaningless because of the high degree of uncertainty involved in such exotic, small systems. Scientists rely on taking measurements over and over again — enough times to dismiss the chance of a fluke.

The new finding ranks as a "3.5 sigma" result, meaning the statistics are solid enough that there is only a 0.05 percent likelihood that the pattern they see isn't really there. For something to count as a true discovery in particle physics, it must reach a 5 sigma level of confidence.

"It's certainly exciting, and certainly worth pursuing," LHCb researcher Matthew Charles of England's Oxford University told LiveScience. "At this point it's a tantalizing hint. It's evidence of something interesting going on, but we're keeping the champagne on ice, let's say."

By the end of 2012, Charles said, the Large Hadron Collider should have collected enough data to either confirm or reject the result.

LHC's birthright

If the finding is borne out, it would be a big deal, because it would mean the reigning theory of particle physics, called the Standard Model, is incomplete. Currently the Standard Model does allow for some minor CP violation, but not at the level of 0.8 percent. To explain these results, scientists would have to alter their theory or add some new physics to the existing picture.

In either case, the LHC would have begun to claim its birthright.

"The whole driving purpose of the LHC is to discover and understand new physics beyond the Standard Model," Charles said. "This sort of analysis is exactly why I joined LHCb."

One possible example of the kind of new physics that might explain such CP violation is called supersymmetry. This theory suggests that in addition to all the known particles, there are supersymmetric partner particles that differ by half a unit of spin. Spin is one of the fundamental characteristics of elementary particles.

So far, no one has found direct evidence of supersymmetry. But if supersymmetric particles exist, they might be created instantaneously and disappear again during the particle-decay process. That way they could interfere with the decay process, potentially explaining why matter and antimatter decay differently.

Charles reported the LHCb team's findings this week in Paris at the Hadron Collider Physics Symposium.

http://news.yahoo.com/physics-atom-smashers-antimatter-surprise-232412931.html

by on Nov. 18, 2011 at 11:32 PM
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Replies (1-10):
by Member on Nov. 18, 2011 at 11:43 PM

Neat! I caught most of it but I'm so tired that I will re-read it tomorrow and comment then!

by Melani on Nov. 19, 2011 at 12:03 AM
Marking my place for tomorrow in the daytime when my brain works better. :)
Posted on CafeMom Mobile
by Ruby Member on Nov. 19, 2011 at 2:16 AM

BUMP!

by Platinum Member on Nov. 19, 2011 at 2:59 AM
Super awesome neat stuff.
Posted on CafeMom Mobile
by New Member on Nov. 30, 2011 at 6:55 PM

I am not sure what your question is, but there is an answer to the strange behavior of Counter Particles. In the standard model, CP paricles can be predicted to be "mirrored" manefestations of their original state. However when passing the quality/value of zero, matter is(or very close to) not representative of anything in particular. Not even the scorce of the CP particle can really determine the value of the CP; though, proximity to similar particles may sway the CP to exibit CP characteristics of the most dominant and approximate matter. The variance of the CP deviations at .8 percent make sense to me, as it represents the proportion of known matter in the universe to messurable energy when multiplied by 1.618. Phi is the ratio of all matter and the basis of all structures; and, is the only method to explain any matter in potential terms. Furthermore, if the entire event were measurable, it would extend beyond the measurable area of the sensors. What we see in the collider is almost a single point. Proximity: remember? Since there is no radius to speak of, phi x .8 offers the accurate prediction that around 94 percent of the CP matter will deviate from the original matter in the TOTAL area in which the event takes place. Some CP particles will be measurable as predicted, but probably not from the scorce expected. Rather, CP particles are created in ratio to the matter present in the event multiplied by phi.

by Ruby Member on Nov. 30, 2011 at 7:54 PM

, Could the OPERA setup send a bit of information faster than light? (2011)
abstract: We argue that with the current experimental setup of the OPERA neutrino experiment no `bit' of information faster than light was or could be sent, and therefore no violation of Lorentz symmetry and/or causality was ...
http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.3642

 Rafael Torrealba, Using an Einstein's idea to explain OPERA faster than light neutrinos (2011) abstract: The OPERA experiment has reported neutrinos, from the CNGS beam, that arrived to Gran Sasso Laboratory 60ns earlier that expected ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.0243

 Steen Hannestad, Martin S. Sloth, Apparent faster than light propagation from light sterile neutrinos (2011) abstract: Recent data from the OPERA experiment seem to point to neutrinos propagating faster than light. One possible physics explanation for such a result is ... show that it can provide an explanation for the observed faster than light propagation of neutrinos. http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.6282

 Karl Svozil, Neutrino dispersion relation changes due to radiative corrections as the origin of faster-than-light-in-vacuum propagation in a medium (2011) abstract: ... in nonstandard vacuum may give rise to "boosts" in their speed. This could explain recent experimental evidence by the OPERA collaboration, as well as the null result indicated by the supernova 1987A (SN 1987A) measurements of neutrino and ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5411

 E. Canessa, OPERA neutrinos and superluminal helical motion (2011) abstract: ... travelling in helical motion in the limit of very large momentum. This is an educated guess by virtue of the MINOS and OPERA experiments on eventual superluminal propagation of ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.0245

 J. Manuel Garcia-Islas, A very simple solution to the OPERA neutrino velocity problem (2011) abstract: Scientists from the OPERA experiment have measured neutrinos supposedly travelling at a velocity faster than light contrary to the theory of relativity. Even when the measurements are precise, the interpretation of this problem is ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.5866

 Luca Maccione , Stefano Liberati , David M. Mattingly, Violations of Lorentz invariance in the neutrino sector after OPERA (2011) abstract: The OPERA collaboration has recently reported that neutrinos travel ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.0783

 Alessandro Drago, Isabella Masina, Giuseppe Pagliara et al., The Hypothesis of Superluminal Neutrinos: comparing OPERA with other Data (2011) abstract: The OPERA Collaboration reported evidence for muonic neutrinos traveling slightly faster than light in vacuum. While waiting further checks from ... interpretation is not only hardly reconciled with OPERA data on energy dependence, but that it clashes with neutrin ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5917

 Jean-Paul Mbelek, Special relativity is consistent with the opera measurements of the neutrino "velocity" (2011) abstract: ... that special relativity (SR) may be consistent with the OPERA measurements of the neutrino velocity provided the latter ... law. An upper bound has been set on the velocity of the OPERA neutrinos by using the deformed dispersion relation suggested by the result of the experiment OPERA itself. http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.4095

, Superluminal neutrinos and the Standard Model (2011)
abstract: Recently the OPERA collaboration {\cite{opera}} has reported the ...
http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.3540

by Ruby Member on Nov. 30, 2011 at 7:54 PM

, Off-shell OPERA neutrinos (2011)
abstract: In the OPERA experiment, superluminal propagation of neutrinos can occur if one of the neutrino masses is extremely small. However ...
http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.3266

 Li-Ang Zhao, Xin Zhang, Fitting to data of superluminal neutrinos with phenomenological scenarios (2011) abstract: ... neutrinos, by fitting to the experimental data from OPERA, MINOS and Fermilab79. Our purpose is to see, from the ... zero can simultaneously explain the results of SN1987A and OPERA+MINOS+Fermilab79. http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.6577

 D. Fargion, D. D'Armiento, Inconsistence of super-luminal Opera neutrino speed with SN1987A neutrinos burst and with flavor neutrino mixing (2011) abstract: Recent news from Cern Opera experiment seem to hint for a muon neutrino faster than light, maybe tachyon in nature. If all neutrino are just tachyon their arrival (at 17 MeV) will be even much faster than 17 GeV Opera neutrino, nearly 7.14 times faster than c, coming back ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5368

 N. D. Hari Dass, OPERA, SN1987a and energy dependence of superluminal neutrino velocity (2011) abstract: ... of superluminal neutrino velocities recently claimed by OPERA [1,2]. The analysis is based on the data provided there on ... [3]. It is seen that it is quite difficult to reconcile OPERA with SN1987a. The so called Coleman- Glashow dispersion rel ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.0351

 I. Area and X. Prado, Some light on "Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam" (2011) abstract: ... in ArXiv of "Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam" has attracted many interest due ... effect on the size of the neutrino pulse appearing in the OPERA measurements is analyzed in this paper to show that the res ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.4805

 Gian F. Giudice, Sergey Sibiryakov, Alessandro Strumia, Interpreting OPERA results on superluminal neutrino (2011) abstract: OPERA has claimed the discovery of superluminal propagation of ... tests of special relativity. We find that reconciling the OPERA measurement with information from ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5682

 Jacek Ciborowski, Jakub Rembielinski, Comments on the recent velocity measurement of the muon neutrinos by the OPERA Collaboration (2011) abstract: We argue that the result quoted by the OPERA Collaboration cannot be interpreted as simply related to the muon neutrino moving at a superluminal velocity from the ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5599

 Gilles Henri, A simple explanation of OPERA results without strange physics (2011) abstract: We show that OPERA recent results showing an apparent superluminal velocity of muonic neutrinos can find a very simple explanation without ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.0239

 Hooman Davoudiasl and Thomas G. Rizzo, Testing the OPERA Superluminal Neutrino Anomaly at the LHC (2011) abstract: The OPERA collaboration has reported the observation of superluminal ... point out that pair-emissions consistent with the OPERA anomaly can lead to detectable signals from decays of highl ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.0821

, Apparent Lorentz violation with superluminal Majorana neutrinos at OPERA? (2011)
abstract: From the data release of OPERA - CNGS experiment, and publicly announced on 23 September ... the experimental errors, we prove that the model fits with OPERA, MINOS and supernova SN1987a data. Possible violations to L ...
http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.5445

by Ruby Member on Nov. 30, 2011 at 7:55 PM

, Resolution of 8 inconsistencies with the OPERA result on superluminal neutrinos, and the best way to check it (2011)
abstract: Physicists have raised many troubling inconsistencies with the OPERA claim of superluminal neutrinos that cast doubt on its validity. This paper examines ways that 8 of these ...
http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.0736

 M. Laveder and F. Tamburini, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova et al., Tachyonic Majorana neutrinos or neutrino spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion in OPERA (2011) abstract: The new data release of OPERA - CNGS experiment, obtained with a shorter spill of ... the properties of these Majorana tachyons with the new OPERA results, finding a good agreement. The possibility of spin- ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1111.4441

 Luis Gonzalez-Mestres, Comments on the recent result of the "Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam" (2011) abstract: The recent result by the OPERA experiment, confirming a trend already present in a previous result by MINOS, raises the question of a possible ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.6308

 Christian Pfeifer, Mattias N.R. Wohlfarth, Beyond the speed of light on Finsler spacetimes (2011) abstract: ... for fermions on Finsler spacetimes, these generalized geometries could explain the very recent observations of the OPERA collaboration who found muon neutrinos propagating faster than light at very high energies, while being consistent with supernova observations ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.6005

 Xiang-Yao Wu, Bo-Jun Zhang, Xiao-Jing Liu et al., Special Theory for Superluminal Particle (2011) abstract: The OPERA collaboration reported evidence for muonic neutrinos travelling faster than light in vacuum. In this paper, an extended relativity theory ... describe the second and third kinds particles, and can analysis the OPERA experiment results and calculate the muonic neutri ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.0882

 Joao Magueijo, Neutrino oscillations and superluminal propagation, in OPERA or otherwise (2011) Neutrino oscillations and superluminal propagation, in OPERA or otherwise Joao Magueijo1 1Theoretical Physics, Blackett ... theory of oscillations, and also for theories proposing faster than light propagation in cosmology [7]. It is undeniable that the al ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.6055

 Lorenzo Iorio, Environmental fifth-force hypothesis for the OPERA superluminal neutrino phenomenology: constraints from orbital motions around the Earth (2011) abstract: ... that the superluminal neutrino phenomenology of the OPERA experiment may be due to an environmental feature of the ... validity of our results is not necessarily limited to the superluminal OPERA scenario: they generally extend to any th ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.6249

 Matej Pav\v{s}i\v{c}, Extra Time Like Dimensions, Superluminal Motion, and Dark Matter (2011) abstract: We show that the superluminal speeds of the muon neutrinos observed in the OPERA experiment can be explained within a relativity theory with extra time like dimensions. In addition, such theory ... http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.4754

 Tim R. Morris, Superluminal group velocity through maximal neutrino oscillations (2011) abstract: ... that the observation of superluminal neutrinos by the OPERA collaboration may be due to group velocity effects ... energy range, but this phenomenum cannot explain the OPERA measurement. http://arxiv.org/abs/1110.2463

, Relativistic Superluminal Neutrinos (2011)
abstract: We present a possible solution to the reported OPERA anomaly for the speed of neutrinos, based on the idea that ... which should be at $1\, {\rm TeV}$ to account for the OPERA anomaly. Moreover, if this scenario is valid, the neutrino ...
http://arxiv.org/abs/1109.6312

by Platinum Member on Nov. 30, 2011 at 8:05 PM

I've had an emotional affair with the Hadron Collider since before they fired it up.

I understand that some years ago we were building a much larger collider here in the US but it lost funding and has been mothballed ever since.

by Platinum Member on Nov. 30, 2011 at 8:13 PM

Quoting isismoon3:

I am not sure what your question is, but there is an answer to the strange behavior of Counter Particles. In the standard model, CP paricles can be predicted to be "mirrored" manefestations of their original state. However when passing the quality/value of zero, matter is(or very close to) not representative of anything in particular. Not even the scorce of the CP particle can really determine the value of the CP; though, proximity to similar particles may sway the CP to exibit CP characteristics of the most dominant and approximate matter. The variance of the CP deviations at .8 percent make sense to me, as it represents the proportion of known matter in the universe to messurable energy when multiplied by 1.618. Phi is the ratio of all matter and the basis of all structures; and, is the only method to explain any matter in potential terms. Furthermore, if the entire event were measurable, it would extend beyond the measurable area of the sensors. What we see in the collider is almost a single point. Proximity: remember? Since there is no radius to speak of, phi x .8 offers the accurate prediction that around 94 percent of the CP matter will deviate from the original matter in the TOTAL area in which the event takes place. Some CP particles will be measurable as predicted, but probably not from the scorce expected. Rather, CP particles are created in ratio to the matter present in the event multiplied by phi.

Neil Tyson Degrasse said that one explaination for the anomolies might be the particles passing backwards through the continium... so it looks like they are moving faster than light when really, they aren't. Is that what you're saying here?