Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

"Cascade B" Particle Discovered At Fermilab

Posted by kdawson on from the three-three-three-quarks-in-one dept.

pnotequalsnp writes to note that physicists at Fermilab have discovered a new heavy particle called the Cascade B. This is the first particle ever seen that is made up of quarks representing all three quark families. A team of 610 physicists from 88 institutions reported the discovery in a paper submitted to Physical Review Letters last week. This must be the discovery that triggered rumors that the Higgs had been found.

12 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  2. interesting by wizardforce · · Score: 5, Interesting

    with a mass of 5.774±0.019 GeV/c2, approximately six times the proton mass. The newly discovered electrically charged b baryon, also known as the "cascade b," is made of a down, a strange and a bottom quark. It is the first observed baryon formed of quarks from all three families of matter. judging by its componants, it should have a (-1/3*3=-1) charge of -1. strange quark: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_quark Bottom quark: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom_quark Down quark: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_quark

    --
    Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
  3. Moooooooogieeeee! by Y-Crate · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is the first particle ever seen that is made up of quarks representing all three quark families.
    That being said, they should keep in mind the following Ferengi Rules of Acquisition during their research:

    6 - Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity

    111 - Treat people in your debt like family... exploit them.
  4. Re:What's the significance? by QuantumG · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Confirms the Standard Model.. again.

    Takes us one more step closer to a Grand Unified Theory.

    And no, there's no practical upshot.. it's pure research.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  5. Unlikely to match the Higgs rumors... by jpflip · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The article describes a new particle with a mass a bit over 5 GeV. This is interesting, but is very different from the supposed resonance at ~180 GeV appearing in the rumors from the Tevatron. It seems pretty unlikely these are related. We'll still have to wait and hear from Dzero on the original rumors (probably just an analysis issue).

    1. Re:Unlikely to match the Higgs rumors... by jpflip · · Score: 5, Informative

      Fair enough - it was late and I threw in a bit of jargon there :) A bit of explanation:

      (1) 1 GeV is approximately the proton mass, so this new particle is a bit over 5x the proton mass

      (2) "Resonance" in this case means a feature in their data that looks like a new particle. When analyzing data from an accelerator, you basically add up the energies of all the particles coming out of a collision and histogram the result for a lot of collisions. If you see a peak in the histogram, it may mean that something interesting is happening at collisions of a particular energy, and such a peak is a signature that a particle is being created. The rumors related to a peak at ~180 GeV, which means it probably isn't the same peak that led to the discovery of the 5 GeV "cascade B" mentioned in this article.

      (3) Dzero (or D0) is one of the two major detectors at the Tevatron particle accelerator (the other is CDF). They are the source of the rumors and of this new discovery.

      (4) I say this is probably an "analysis issue", in that the 180 GeV feature could turn out to be an analysis mistake. It's probably being rechecked extensively by the folks working on Dzero, and they'll eventually let us know if it's real.

  6. Re:What's the significance? by rumith · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Research is the transformation of money to knowledge. Innovation is the transformation of knowledge to money."
    Dr. Hans Meixner.

  7. Re:610 physicists by Mr_Tulip · · Score: 5, Funny

    In 20 years when labsize is measured in Giga-physicists, this quote will come back to haunt you.

  8. Cascade B by k4_pacific · · Score: 5, Funny

    From what I understand, Cascade B was discovered when a beam of high energy particles was directed at a plate with dried spaghetti crusted on it. The scientists found that the Cascade B removed the dried on food and left no water spots. Further research is needed to determine if Cascade B can be adapted for use in existing dishwashers.

    --
    Unknown host pong.
  9. Re:610 physicists by Torvaun · · Score: 5, Funny

    We have here an article about physics that uses the word cascade. They better have Gordon Freeman on this team, I'm betting none of the other scientists can swing a crowbar worth a damn.

    --
    I see your informative link, and raise you a pithy comment.
  10. Re:Something other? by heinousjay · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hate to interrupt your conversation with yourself, but could you get to the point, please?

    --
    Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
  11. Re:610 physicists by Silver+Sloth · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One way to build a solid team is to get complete involvement from the bottom to the top. If, at the end of the day, all the personnel who worked on the project get to put their names on the paper it shows how their work is valued and how much they are 'part of the team'.

    And as for team size being limited - I'll bet that during the better days at NASA, say during the Apollo missions, everyone right down to the janitor felt that they were part of the team - and, if you don't think that janitors are important just wait until the next time the toilet blocks.

    --
    init 11 - for when you need that edge.