Mysterious Leptoquarks Could Bind Both Types of Matter. That Is, If They Exist

[Judi Lynn]

By Rafi Letzter, Staff Writer | October 10, 2018 04:17pm ET

Physicists are hunting for an elusive particle that swings both ways, and if they find it, it could explain several bizarre results found at atom smashers around the world.

In modern physics, matter is divided at its most basic level into two types of particle: On the one hand are quarks, which most often bind together to form protons and neutrons, which in turn make up the nuclei of atoms. On the other hand are leptons. These include everything else with mass — from common electrons to the more exotic muons and taus, to faint, nearly undetectable neutrinos. Under normal circumstances, these particles mainly stick to their own kind; quarks primarily interact with other quarks, and leptons with other leptons.

But physicists suspect there are more particles out there. A lot more. And one of those proposed classes of particles is called the leptoquark. If they exist, leptoquarks would bridge the gap between leptons and quarks, coupling with both sorts of particle. No one's ever found direct evidence for the existence of leptoquarks, but researchers have reason to suspect they're out there. In September, experimentalists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) published the results of several experiments in the preprint journal arXiv designed to either prove or disprove their existence. [The Coolest Little Particles in Nature]


Mysterious Leptoquarks Could Bind Both Types of Matter. That Is, If They Exist
Credit: CERN
Physicists are hunting for an elusive particle that swings both ways, and if they find it, it could explain several bizarre results found at atom smashers around the world.

In modern physics, matter is divided at its most basic level into two types of particle: On the one hand are quarks, which most often bind together to form protons and neutrons, which in turn make up the nuclei of atoms. On the other hand are leptons. These include everything else with mass — from common electrons to the more exotic muons and taus, to faint, nearly undetectable neutrinos. Under normal circumstances, these particles mainly stick to their own kind; quarks primarily interact with other quarks, and leptons with other leptons.

But physicists suspect there are more particles out there. A lot more. And one of those proposed classes of particles is called the leptoquark. If they exist, leptoquarks would bridge the gap between leptons and quarks, coupling with both sorts of particle. No one's ever found direct evidence for the existence of leptoquarks, but researchers have reason to suspect they're out there. In September, experimentalists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) published the results of several experiments in the preprint journal arXiv designed to either prove or disprove their existence. [The Coolest Little Particles in Nature]

"Leptoquarks have become one of the most tantalizing ideas for extending our calculations, as they make it possible to explain several observed anomalies," Roman Kogler, a physicist at the LHC, said in a statement.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/63800-lhc-narrows-range-for-leptoquark-particles.html?utm_source=notification

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Interesting article. Might point the way to better coordinate further investigations...

Thanks for posting. Neat word, lepto quark (all one word)...