Unlocking the Secrets of the Universe

"This has been a seven-year saga. Over this period, we  have been seeing clues of a new unexplained process at work, but the effects were too subtle to draw any conclusions."

"We are very excited about this result but remain cautious as well. The discovery of a new force in nature is the holy grail of particle physics."

"Our current understanding of the constituents of the universe falls remarkably short -- we do not know what 95 percent of the universe is made of or why there is such a large imbalance between matter and antimatter."

Dr.Konstantinos Petridis, Bristol University

"This new result offers tantalizing hints of the presence of a new fundamental particle or force that interacts differently with these different types of particles."

"The more data we have, the stronger this result has become. This measurement is the most significant in a series of results from the past decade that all seem to line up -- and could all point toward a common explanation."

"The results have not changed, but their uncertainties have shrunk, increasing our ability to see possible differences with the Standard Model."

Dr.Paula Alvarez Cartelle, University of Cambridge

Since its inception over a decade ago, the Large Hadron Collider has sought to delve into the secrets of the universe by studying the smallest discreet particles of matter as they collide at close to light speed. (AFP)

In physics the Standard Model is used by scientists to comprehend the universe. It is a theory describing all known fundamental particles linking to their interaction with forces, setting out how the building blocks of nature work; quarks, leptons, force-carrier particles and the Higgs Boson. As an educated hypothesis the Standard Model works as a guide until attempting to use it to explain issues such as gravity or why and how it is that the universe is expanding and accelerating. In essence, it is serviceable to a degree but reliance is not total when it comes to the vital inexplicables.

It falls short of explaining dark matter, the invisible something constituting 27 percent of the mass of the universe, a substance whose purpose and function is thought of as holding galaxies together. Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider created particles known as beauty quarks in an effort to discover what is going on in the universe that has so far managed to elude discovery. Beauty quarks once existed in the wake of the Big Bang; their quick decay transformed them into electrons and muons and natural beauty quarks themselves are extinct.

 

The Standard Model, which scientists currently use to understand the universe, breaks down when it comes to explaining crucial issues such as gravity or why the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Photo by J. EMERSON/AFP via Getty Images

The scientists exploring the function of the beauty quarks they produced realized their expectations of the behaviour of the elements were wrong. Beauty quarks, under the Standard Model, should decay into particles called K+mesons combining either two muons or two electrons. But for every 100 mesons with electrons scientists found there were just 85 with muons which should not occur under the Standard Model, suggesting newfound particles or forces interfere with muons.

The Large Hadron Collider located deep underground on the border between France and Switzerland is the world's most powerful, largest particle collider, accelerating subatomic particles to near the speed of light before smashing them into one another, collisions producing a burst of new particles, recorded by physicists to more fully comprehend nature's foundations.

Electrons and muons are identically treated, which means that beauty quarks should decay into muons as frequently as they do to electrons, but this is not happening, revealed by new results. Now, according to scientists, the latest result has revealed the first ever-known evidence there could be something off with the current understanding of particle physics, other than countenancing a fluke.

The exciting anticipation that the sudden revelation may prove to be the key to understanding how the universe works is exhilarating and provocative at the same time. Unlocking a mystery of nature of this magnitude has the potential to lead science to additional key discoveries in an ongoing quest to reveal nature's function and purpose and outcomes. An all-encompassing search in a vast ocean of possibilities.

Physicists believe they have discovered signals of a mystery force interacting with other particles in a manner never before witnessed which may serve to explain some of the deepest puzzles in modern physics. A tantalizing prospect of science meeting nature at her own game.

 

A worker inspects the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) Large Hadron Collider. Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

"We were actually shaking when we first looked at the results, we were that excited. Our hearts did beat a bit faster."

"It's too early to say if this genuinely is a deviation from the Standard Model but the potential implications are such that these results are the most exciting thing I've done in 20 years in the field."

"It has been a long journey to get here."

Dr.Mitesh Patel, Imperial College London