Researchers analysing Large Hadron Collider data say they have detected beauty-quark interactions at a billionth-of-a-trillionth of a metre, a step that could help in the search for dark matter, BBC News reports.
Scientists have picked up signals from the smallest scale of nature ever explored, according to BBC News. The analysis, led by researchers based at Cambridge University, used data from the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at Cern on the Swiss-French border. In the collisions, a sub-atomic particle called the beauty quark is produced; it is unstable and survives only about one and a half trillionths of a second before decaying. Despite that short life, the team detected it interacting with other tiny particles at a scale of a billion-trillionth of a metre, which the BBC describes as 100 billion times smaller than an atom. Some physicists have nicknamed this realm the 'zeptoverse', and Dr Harry Cliff, who led the data analysis, said: "We're knocking on the door of this zeptoverse."
The result matters because it could feed into a more complete theory of how the Universe works. Dark matter makes up a large part of the cosmos, and yet researchers have struggled to detect it; its existence is inferred only from its gravitational pull on ordinary matter. Some theories suggest that at these tiny scales particles are more sensitive to dark matter, which could influence how quarks interact and decay, so activity here could offer indirect clues. Cliff said the work gives researchers a ringside seat to the behaviour of possible new particles, but that finding out what is there will require more data. The 28 countries in the LHCb collaboration have agreed a £150m upgrade to the detector that would increase the frequency of these decays tenfold.
The discovery comes against a backdrop of UK funding cuts. The BBC reports that UK Research and Innovation withdrew its share of the money for the upgrade last year and later announced cuts to other particle physics and astronomy projects, including Jodrell Bank's Lovell telescope, despite a record overall science budget. Prof Tim Gershon, who leads the LHCb collaboration, told the BBC that the UK's full involvement is now in doubt and warned it risks missing major discoveries and the training of young researchers. Prof Brian Cox, who was not part of the team, called the result important and condemned the decision. Early-career researcher Dr Mary Richardson-Slipper said she is considering jobs abroad. UKRI told the BBC it remains fully engaged as Cern's second largest funder, at around £175m per year.
