Science & Technology

Hadron Collider hints at another new particle

By T.K. Randall
July 7, 2016

Image: CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Tunnel
Credit: Julian Herzog / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) Not content with finding the long-sought Higgs-Boson, the scientists behind the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva have been continuing their efforts to unravel the secrets of the universe by pushing the world-famous particle accelerator to increasingly high levels of energy and intensity.

Recent results from their experiments have revealed what has been referred to as a "bump" in their data indicating that more photons had been picked up than expected during the trillions of particle collisions carried out over the last twelve months.While it's still early days yet, there is a chance that this anomalous reading may point to the presence of a previously unknown particle that is six times more massive than the Higgs Boson.

"More data is needed to be sure the signal doesn't go away - until then we have to be cautious," said Prof Stefan Söldner-Rembold. "The big reason that people are excited about this bump is that both experiments (Atlas and CMS) saw a hint in roughly the same place."

Additional details about the potential new find are likely to surface over the coming weeks.

Source: BBC News

Tags: Large Hadron Collider