After Half A Century, Physicists Find The Strongest Evidence Yet For An Exotic 'Glueball' Particle
Physicists have discovered strong evidence for the existence of a 'glueball,' an exotic particle predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. The findings, based on data from the Beijing Electron Positron Collider, suggest the particle X(2370) is primarily composed of gluons.
Why it matters
This discovery provides critical validation for quantum chromodynamics and our understanding of the fundamental forces that hold matter together.
Add ScienceAlert on Google (koto_feja/Getty Images) An important part of the Standard Model of particle physics, quantum chromodynamics describes the strong interaction of quarks and gluons to create the ordinary matter we see, touch, and taste.
Quarks are fundamental subatomic particles that combine in trios to make up familiar baryons such as protons and neutrons, and gluons are the quantum 'Gorilla Glue' that binds their quark structure together.
For nearly 50 years, physicists have hunted for "glueballs", exotic particles predicted by this theory of the strong interaction.
Now, a collaboration working at a collider in Beijing says it has the clearest evidence yet that a known particle called X(2370) is dominated by one of these elusive states.
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