Large Hadron Collider discovers new pentaquark particle

[muriel_volestrangler]

It was first predicted to exist in the 1960s but, much like the Higgs boson particle before it, the pentaquark eluded science for decades until its detection at the LHC.

The discovery, which amounts to a new form of matter, was made by the Hadron Collider's LHCb experiment.

The findings have been submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters.
...
LHCb spokesperson Guy Wilkinson commented: "The pentaquark is not just any new particle… It represents a way to aggregate quarks, namely the fundamental constituents of ordinary protons and neutrons, in a pattern that has never been observed before in over fifty years of experimental searches.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33517492

[awoke_in_2003]

1. K&R- nt

[Lionel Mandrake]

2. Not as big a deal as the Higgs, but still very cool.

It would be a big surprise if the pentaquark didn't exist. But now that it's properties have been measured, theorists can have fun computing those properties according the the Standard Model.