‘Impossible’ Particle Discovery Adds Key Piece to the Strong Force Puzzle

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This spring, at a meeting of Syracuse University’s quark physics group, Ivan Polyakov announced that he had uncovered the fingerprints of a semi-mythical particle.


“We said, ‘This is impossible. What mistake are you making?’” recalled Sheldon Stone, the group’s leader.


Polyakov went away and double-checked his analysis of data from the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment, which the Syracuse group is part of. The evidence held. It showed that a particular set of four fundamental particles called quarks can form a tight clique, contrary to the belief of most theorists. The LHCb collaboration reported the discovery of the composite particle, dubbed the double-charm tetraquark, at a conference in July and in two papers posted earlier this month that are now undergoing peer review.

‘Impossible’ Particle Discovery Adds Key Piece to the Strong Force Puzzle | Quanta Magazine

The unexpected discovery of the double-charm tetraquark has given physicists a new tool with which to hone their understanding of the strongest of nature’s fundamental forces.

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