Xi-Sub-B Baryon, New Particle Discovered At Fermilab, May Bring Physicists Closer To Higgs Boson Particle

A team of scientists believe they are one step closer to discovering the hypothetical Higgs boson particle (aka 'God particle').

Physicists working at the Collision Detector at Fermilab (CDF) in Illinois have apparently discovered a new particle, Xi-sub-b, a particle that is long to have been predicted to exist but was only recently observed, according to Conceivably Tech.

The find was somewhat of an accident, though the Tevatron particle accelerator and collider (which incorporates the CDF) has become the location of a number of "bottom baryon" finds.

Baryons, including Xi-sub-b, are comprised of three subatomic particles called quarks. (Protons and neutrons are two of the best-known bayrons.) Wired explains Xi-sub-b's unique composition:

The xi-sub-b has an up quark, a strange quark (yes, that's its real name) and a heavy bottom quark (again, real name), meaning that it weighs around six times as much as a proton or neutron. [...] It doesn't stick around long, though -- travelling a fraction of a miliimetre before decaying into lighter particles.

The research behind this discovery may also prove an important step down the path to finding the more elusive Higgs boson particle. Fermilab's press release, issued on Thursday, stated that the Tevatron experiments are closing in on the critical mass sensitivity they need to find the theorized particle.

“This specific type of decay has never been measured before, and it gives us great confidence that our analysis works as we expect, and that we really are on the doorsteps of the Higgs particle,” Giovanni Punzi, co-spokesperson for the CDF collaboration, said in a statement, according to the press release.

Fermilab isn't the only institution that feels it's close to finding the so-called "God particle." In April, an apparent memo leaked from the research labs at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest particle accelerator, that hinted the discovery may have already happened. Some, including a spokesperson for CERN, disputed this claim, however, and speculated that the theory was likely premature.

Comments

[Waterphoneman]

04:06 PM on 07/25/2011

A God particle? I can assure you that it will never be found.

[MilesLong]

08:32 PM on 07/24/2011

Just got off the phone with God, again.

She was having a good time at the expense of fundamentalists who rail against science. After all, She said, these fundamentalists need to take a course in logical thinking, ESPECIALLY where it concerns the intersection of science and belief.

When I brought up the possible discovery of the so-called God particle, the Xi-Sub-B Baryon, and the objections of those who would deny any notion of science and belief having any kind of correspondence, She laughed. She was highly amused by the controversy, especially by those who insisted the particle NOT be called the God Particle.

After all, She reminded me, if one is a true believer in Her, and honored Her existence, She said, then aren’t all particles Her particles?

Then She told me yet another joke about people who believe one can “pray the Gay away” in her creatures that made me laugh so hard it gave me a cramp in my side...

Miles “Science And Belief Aren’t Always Mutually Exclusive” Long

[Jennifer]

11:33 PM on 07/23/2011

Please stop calling it the 'god particle'. That only shows your ignorance. Thank you.

[SocialAegis]

11:17 AM on 07/24/2011

While I can appreciate the sentiment to divest science of all of that religious nonsense, the term 'God Particle' is (at least to me) quite obviously used in the Einsteinian sense.

Both Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein used God in expression and in writing, most notably at the conclusion of A Brief History of Time.

Making statements of another's Ignorance, especially when the subject is use of the word 'God', is very naive and short sighted.

[garder54]

11:45 AM on 07/24/2011

Good post.

[Rude Monk]

03:48 PM on 07/24/2011

Hawking and einstein were math phyz eggheads who dabbled in metaphysics.
We had a priestly class before who thought they were the best to tell the peasants how to live their lives.

[richkam]

11:05 PM on 07/23/2011

Stop waisting time and money, because "the god's particle" DOES NOT exists. See documents and video written by Nassim Haramein at www.theresonanceproject.org
This smart man says: "the better exploration would by to stop looking for a fundamental particle and start looking for a fundamental pattern of division.
Because if we could find the pattern in which the universe divides the we would have a key to creation." And I fully support his opinion.

[Ron Willison]

08:40 PM on 07/23/2011

This just in. The people at in the universe next fractal size up from ours. Just finished their new atom smasher, and are going to crash Earthtron particles at near the speed of light to see what new elemental particles they can make. yikes!! I think we have problems.

[JoePesci]

09:26 AM on 07/23/2011

This Just in: Bachman's Husband can change a Bottom Quark into a Top Quark using only prayer.

[JillianLR]

05:05 PM on 07/23/2011

I award you comment of the day.

[tulsey]

03:39 PM on 07/24/2011

Next Marcus will stamp out the "Gay Gene" cause he is light on his feet.

[juliusa]

08:34 AM on 07/23/2011

OK, and what do we do with it when we have it? Can it be used quickly to get some sign of intelligent life into the budget debate?

[NoboyukiMasaki]

07:57 AM on 07/23/2011

Why haven't you displayed any comment before this one?

[Rude Monk]

11:48 PM on 07/22/2011

Wanna bet they won't find anything these year?Or the next.
This is too lucrative for the eggheads.Careers are build on this useless exercise in futility.
History is full of conmen who were living in the estate of a baron or marquis looking for gold.
Today,these math phyz "alchemists" are living it large on the taxpayer dime.

[planetjeffy]

01:04 AM on 07/23/2011

I agree
The subatomic particles that are powering your computer, phone, car and such
are a compete waste of time
and smart people are a drag on society
If only they were as smart as you....

[Rude Monk]

11:48 AM on 07/23/2011

Computers,phones,cars etc.were designed and built by engineers.
You know,the guys who correct the trajectory of satellites so they don't tumble back down to earth.
There is only a matter of time before the sponsors pull the plug on the LHC.
For more on this con job check Youtube and Bill Gaede where he talks about the math phyz "geniuses".

[Down in FL]

03:07 AM on 07/23/2011

It's funny; reading how little you know about science.

[NoboyukiMasaki]

09:03 PM on 07/22/2011

The Higgs-Boson is not a "god" particle.

[MikeyJaii]

07:21 PM on 07/22/2011

What exactly is so special of this "god" particle?

[planetjeffy]

11:00 PM on 07/22/2011

wikipedia is wonderful - edited copy below

The Higgs boson is often referred to as "the God particle" by the media,after the title of Leon Lederman's book, The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, While use of this term may have contributed to increased media interest in particle physics, many scientists dislike it, since it overstates the particle's importance, not least since its discovery would still leave unanswered questions about the unification of QCD, the Electroweak interaction and gravity, and the ultimate origin of the universe. In a renaming competition, a jury of physicists chose the name "the champagne bottle boson" as the best popular name.

[crydespite]

11:29 PM on 07/22/2011

it's just mass, for god's sake.

i'll get my coat.

[saileyboy]

08:07 AM on 07/24/2011

no respect, no respect at all.

[666dorado]

06:42 PM on 07/22/2011

would be nice if people focused more on finding a cure for cancer...

[SBSteve]

07:03 PM on 07/22/2011

There are a lot of worthwhile things to do be discovered. Just because you don't understand something, it doesn't mean it is not worth our time and resources.

[666dorado]

07:40 PM on 07/22/2011

i have a decent college level understanding of math and physics. and i didn't say it's not worth our time and resources.

i just said it would be nice if people focused more on finding a cure for cancer. you know, something that affects real people's lives right here and now.

sort of like all our politicians debating gays in the military when people are unemployed and the economy stinks.

[texfly]

12:38 AM on 07/23/2011

Read the book "2030". Not the greatest piece of literature, but does provide food for thought on what impact a cure for cancer could have.

[politisophical]

06:28 PM on 07/22/2011

i wonder what would have happened if the US would have not scraped its Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) in Texas... first it was physics, now our space program is out, im guessing they are going to shut down MIT and Berkeley....and replace science class with a Texas approved curriculum

[Israel4Ever]

12:38 AM on 07/23/2011

Agreed. Maybe we can intelligent design our way to competing with the worlds growing technological powers.

[JoePesci]

09:30 AM on 07/23/2011

those damn hippie scientists. They're trying to take money from our "Job Creators" for such silly ideas as room temperature super conductors and Helium3 Cold Fusion. Give me a tax break on my vacation home! who needs nano-bots that eat cancer cells?

Fanned Faved!

[NoboyukiMasaki]

05:58 PM on 07/22/2011

There is no "god particle."

[palindrom]

09:59 PM on 07/22/2011

'There is no "god particle."'.

But there might be a Higgs boson. Or maybe not. I've always thought that "God particle" is an especially unfortunate name for an entirely natural phenomenon.

[JoePesci]

09:06 AM on 07/23/2011

It's name is supposedly derived from Einstein's inability to mesh general relativity and quantum mechanics. The Math breaks down. Gravity is too weak of a force, and there was not enough mass calculable at the time to Make the numbers work. When ideas like "Dark energy" and "anti-matter" were bandied about, Einstein replied "God does not play dice with the Universe"

this is anecdotal and not supported by any linkable or reliable peer reviewed paper I know of.

[JoePesci]

09:23 AM on 07/23/2011

there may be a Jesus particle, but Just as a theory, scientists haven't nailed it down yet.

[Basselope]

12:40 PM on 07/24/2011

Ouch! Punny.

[Mummyscurse]

04:33 PM on 07/22/2011

The only "things" that are smaller in the Universe, are Sarah Palin's brain, and a Neo-Con Republican's sense of morality/humanity.