Physicists working with the Large Hadron Collider have recorded a rare decay event that may open a path into physics at scales far smaller than anything previously probed. The observation, drawn from a collision of protons at high energy, is being described as a first glimpse into what researchers call the zeptoverse.
The Large Hadron Collider, the particle accelerator run by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, sends protons into one another at very high energy and studies the debris. Most of what emerges is routine and well understood. The collision that produced this result was different: it yielded an outcome unlikely under ordinary conditions, and it was the kind of event that stands out from the usual stream of data.
The zeptoverse refers to a scale many orders of magnitude below that of the atom, roughly 100 billion times smaller. If the event reflects physics operating at that level, it would be the smallest scale physicists have yet explored. That is the reason the finding has drawn attention, even though its implications remain tentative.
Researchers stress that the result rests on a single rare event. Confirming its significance will require additional data, and the exact nature and mechanism of the decay are still unclear. Until more collisions of this kind are recorded and analyzed, the observation remains a promising lead rather than an established discovery.
Credit. Based on reporting by Jorge Garay for WIRED. Is this your work? Write to us.
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