The CMS collaboration at CERN have looked for proof of long-lived particles past the Commonplace Mannequin in proton-proton collision occasions
Regardless of the large success of the Commonplace Mannequin of particle physics, we all know it’s not full. Darkish matter and neutrino plenty are simply two of the issues which can be conspicuously lacking in our present principle.
Nonetheless, it’s been notoriously troublesome to carry out an experiment that really disagrees with the mannequin’s predictions.
Many proposed extensions of the Commonplace Mannequin, such because the fraternal twin Higgs or folded supersymmetry fashions, embody so-called long-lived particles (LLPs).
Not like most particles produced in high-energy collisions, which decay virtually instantaneously, LLPs have comparatively lengthy lifetimes, that means they journey a measurable distance earlier than decaying.
A brand new paper from the CMS collaboration at CERN looked for proof of those particles by re-examining earlier information from proton-proton collision occasions.
The brand new evaluation used new methods comparable to machine-learning strategies to boost the sensitivity to LLPs.
So, did they discover any new particles? The quick reply, sadly, isn’t any.
Nonetheless, the brand new examine achieves as much as a tenfold enchancment over earlier limits for LLP plenty. It additionally locations the primary constraints on many proposed fashions that predict these particles.
Though this examine discovered no new physics, we’re nonetheless assured that one thing should be on the market. And by narrowing down the potential areas the place we would discover new particles, we’re one step nearer to discovering them.
The search continues.
