Chinese-led scientists found a new particle

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Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland have announced the discovery of a new particle.

Chinese scientists were involved with the research, as reported by Science and Technology Daily on Thursday.

"The newly-discovered particle is more proof of the Standard Model, another piece of the puzzle," said Gao Yuanning, leader of the Chinese team at LHC.

Report about the discovery on LHCb's website. /LHCb Screenshot

In particle physics, the Standard Model is a theory related to the basic particles that form the entire universe.

Although the theory is widely considered as solid by leading physicists worldwide, not all particles it predicts have actually been found.

Into the heart of the atom

The new particle has been called the "doubly charmed baryon" in an article published on the LHCb website.

It's widely taught in physics classes that the world is formed by atoms, and atoms are formed by protons, neutrons and electrons.

And protons and neutrons in turn are formed by a relatively modern concept, the quark.

Structure of an atom. /VCG Photo‍

As the article explains, the baryon consists of one up quark and two charm quarks, and its charge equals two.

It's rare that a particle has two charm quarks in it, Gao told reporters, adding that deeper research on the particle can help humans understand how everything is formed.

Chinese contribution

The team of LHCb has 1185 scientists from 16 different countries. The Chinese group has been working to find the baryon since 2010.

"Initially we wanted to find a baryon with two bottom quarks, but charm quarks are lighter and easier to produce. That's why we shifted our focus," Gao explained.

The charm quark was discovered by a Chinese-born scientist Samuel C. C. Ting, together with Burton Richter.

Ting listens to students' questions at an event in Sichuan University on September 13, 2016. /VCG File Photo

The two physicists received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1976 for this discovery.