Higgs eludes detection; ATLAS finds new particle at Large Hadron Collider

Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Lancaster University, analysing data taken by the ATLAS experiment, have been at the centre of what is believed to be the first clear observation of a new particle at the Large Hadron Collider. The research was published on 22 December 2011 on the online repository arXiv.

The particle, the Chi-b(3P) [pronounced kye-bee three P] is a new way of combining a beauty quark and its antiquark so that they bind together. Like the more famous Higgs particle, the Chi-b(3P) is a boson. However, whereas the Higgs is not made up of smaller particles, the Chi-b(3P) combines two very heavy objects via the same 'strong force' which holds the atomic nucleus together.

Andy Chisholm, the PhD student from the University of Birmingham who worked on the analysis said, "Analysing the billions of particle collisions at the LHC is fascinating. There are potentially all kinds of interesting things buried in the data, and we were lucky to look in the right place at the right time."