Scientists Discover A Mysterious Sub-Atomic Particle

A January 12, 2004 report in Science Daily Telegraph, entitled “Mystery Particle May Hold Clues To Universe,” discusses how fourteen physicists at the University of Melbourne “have recently discovered a sub-atomic particle that they are having difficulty explaining and difficulty fitting with any current theory that attempts to describe matter. Their research will be published in Physical Review Letters (in press).” [1]

The fourteen physicists belong to a group of 300 physicists from thirteen countries known collectively as the “Belle Collaboration.” According to University of Melbourne doctoral student in physics and Belle team member, Mr. Craig Everton, “It could mean some of the standard and accepted theories on matter will need to be modified to incorporate some new physics.” [1]

“The new sub-atomic particle they believe could be a meson. A meson by itself is a relatively obscure particle, but one which is made up of quarks, the basic building blocks of not just life, but everything that exists in this universe – as we know it.” [1]

“This ‘mystery meson’ weighs about the same as a single atom of helium (a heavy-weight by sub-atomic particle standards) and exists for only about one billionth of a trillionth of a second before it decays to other long-lived, more familiar particles.” [1] “The team discovered their meson, technically known as X(3872), using a giant electron collider, or the High Energy Accelerator Research organization (KEK) in Tsukuba, Japan.” [1]

In the article, Everton says, “Particle physics is now beginning to merge together the disciplines of cosmology and astrophysics and give new perspectives on stuff such as the evolution and construction of the universe and the nature of dark matter.” [1] American physicist Paul Steinhardt said in the June 20, 2003 issue of the magazine Science that without dark matter, our humankind would not exist.

The scientific discovery of molecules, atoms, electrons, protons, and neutrons did not require extremely complex equipment. However, it is far more difficult to discover more obscure particles for at least two reasons: on one hand, the more obscure particles are extremely short-lived — they vanish in a flash; on the other hand, probing them requires scientific equipment of higher levels. The particular electron collider used in this research is three kilometers in circumference. “The Belle discovery was recently confirmed by researchers with the CDF (Collider Detector at Fermilab) experiment at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, home of the Tevatron, the world’s largest electron collider.” [1]

A normal meson particle is comprised of a quark and an anti-quark. Then what is a quark comprised of? What are the particles that comprise a quark comprised of? It is extremely difficult to research mesons and quarks; there is no telling the difficulty of researching even smaller particles. Despite the fact that these particles permeate the entire cosmos, it is nearly impossible at present for mankind to understand them.

“[One billionth of a trillionth of a second] may seem extremely short-lived by any human standard, but it is nearly an eternity for a sub-atomic particle this heavy,” says Everton, referring to the new discovery. [1]

Perhaps particles of different levels exist in their respective time-space dimensions. The research already done on “dark matter, “dark energy,” and obscure particles has undoubtedly given mankind new inspiration. In order to understand the microscopic world, one must alter one’s thinking. In order for humankind to break through our understanding of the world, perhaps we need to take a fresh look at ourselves as well as the relationship between man and nature.

References:
[1] http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/01/040112072200.htm
[2] http://dajiyuan.com/gb/3/10/4/n387923.htm