Single top quark detected

Science News ^ | March 10th, 2009 | Solmaz Barazesh

[neverdem]

Same techniques could be used to detect theoretical particles like the Higgs boson

Physicists have identified the production of the elusive single top quark, two research teams report.

Previously top quarks have been observed only when produced in pairs, as when they were initially discovered 14 years ago at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill. Now, researchers using Fermilab’s two detectors announced March 9 that they have detected single top quarks. The techniques used to find the singleton quarks could help to identify other rare particles, such as the Higgs boson, the scientists say.

“What a discovery,” comments Nobel laureate David Gross of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “These researchers should be congratulated.”

Quarks are fundamental particles of matter that come in six varieties known as “flavors.” Ordinary matter consists mostly of two quark flavors, the “up” and “down” quarks that make up protons and neutrons. Other quarks are found in exotic subatomic particles or are created in high-energy collisions in particle accelerators. The top quark was the last flavor to be discovered experimentally, in 1995.

Since that time, the two groups at Fermilab, using the CDF and the DZero detectors, have combed through data from billions upon billions of particle collisions, looking for the unique features that would signal a single top quark.

But only about one in every 20 billion collisions produces a single top quark, and that weak signal easily gets lost in the background of other particle debris. “Pairs of top quarks have a more distinctive signature than singles, and so are easier to distinguish,” explains physicist Darien Wood, a spokesman for the DZero group.

The two groups had slightly different methods of analyzing the data, which allowed for healthy competition, says physicist Robert Roser, a...

[Captain Beyond]

bump

[grey_whiskers]

Like, *PING*, dudes.

Cheers!

[DB]

I wonder if this science will ever produce something really useful?

[editor-surveyor]

Thanks for the ping!

[SunTzuWu]

I wonder if this science will ever produce something really useful?

You always play better when you know the rules of the game.

[editor-surveyor]

Actually, particle physics has been useful in developing very small, fast processors that will soon find their way into things like cell phones.

[Moonman62]

Look at the technological world around you. It was all made possible by scientific discoveries.

[ancientart]

Look at the technological world around you. It was all made possible by scientific discoveries.

The technology often precedes the science. Credit is often due the engineers more than to the pure scientists.

[DB]

Some discoveries are more useful than others.

I’m not saying that these won’t be useful.

I’m just saying I wonder what they will be if anything.

[DB]

“You always play better when you know the rules of the game.”

That is very true.

[neverdem]

Physicists get closer to finding the 'God Particle'

A lighter Higgs makes particle hunt harder

The lowdown on animal testing for cosmetics - European Union continues phasing out animal experiments.

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

[cydcharisse]

Galileo wondered the same thing.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem. No ping, just adding.

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[ASOC]

I thought that mixing singleton quarks with low rade kerosene would yield 120 octane gas so you could get 100 MPG in your old Chvey truck.

Science without results does seem to be an exercise in federal funding for the sake of federal funding. Salk is a hero, he saved countless lives. There guys - oy!

[AFPhys]

I'm glad that you conceded that this "may" be useful after the first comment that sounded simply upset (which surprised me from my memory of your posting history). I have given lectures to people for many years in which I trace the results of what I consider the first particle accelerator experiment, the Rutherford-Geiger-Marsden experiment with gold foil, through the experimental science and theoretical thought that experiment generated, to show people how the computer revolution was dependent on that particle experiment! Theoretical and applied physicists, taxpayers and schoolteachers, have listened to this and said, you know I never thought of it that way, but you are right.

Of course, then, the next question I ask them is, "could you have predicted that throwing particles at gold foil could teach us how to change the world in this way?" Obviously, no. We do not have any idea how BASIC RESEARCH like this Top Quark research can create future discoveries and thought. It may be minimal, but history has given us to realize that the outcome could extend far beyond our strangest dreams!

[DB]

I hope I live long enough to find out!

[woofie]

Im still working on gravitational pull

[AFPhys]

It is my belief based on the history of science and technology, that it takes a minimum of two full generations in order to bring a major scientific discovery to fruition. I don’t expect to see the result of the current High Energy physics and Cosmology research - but I’m excited about seeing it progress nonetheless.

What I WOULD like to see before I die, and still believe we COULD if someone had the balls to actually pursue it singlemindedly for more than ten years, is WORKING FUSION POWER GENERATORS. Gaack! We’ve been so bad at focusing on that incredibly powerful concept. ... I better not get started on this side track or I’ll write a chapter of a book in this thread!

[DB]

Cheap plentiful energy would solve a lot of problems we face. From clean water to heavy industry raising everyones standard of living.

If I were a zillionaire I'd spend most of it pursuing space. If man is going to survive long term we have to get off this rock.

Now back to reality...