The exotic particles that could break the Standard Model
4 hours ago
- #Standard Model
- #LHCb experiment
- #particle physics
- The Standard Model is incomplete, as it fails to explain phenomena like dark matter, but observations confirm its accuracy with increasing precision.
- An LHCb experiment analysis shows a growing deviation in B meson decay into a kaon and two muons, with decay angles disagreeing with Standard Model predictions since 2015.
- The 'penguin decay' involving a bottom quark changing to a strange quark via a quantum loop is rare and sensitive to undiscovered physics, making new particle effects easier to spot.
- The analysis includes 650 billion decays from 2011-2018, with a 4 sigma significance, indicating a 1 in 16,000 chance of random noise, and is tentatively corroborated by the CMS experiment.
- Caution is advised due to a rival decay involving charm quarks that could produce similar products, making precise theoretical predictions difficult, though it likely doesn't explain the full deviation.
- Possible explanations include a Z' particle mediating a new force that discriminates between particle flavors or leptoquarks, which combine properties of leptons and quarks and could cause the observed decay angles.