Trending Now - LHC Findings Suggest Potential Breakthroughs in Fundamental Physics
WHO:
Phys.org - Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva.
The Conversation - Physicists involved in the LHCb experiment.
WHAT:
Phys.org - Recent findings suggest potential signs of undiscovered physics.
The Conversation - The findings indicate a disagreement with the predictions of the Standard Model regarding the decay of B mesons.
The Conversation - The measurement shows a tension of four standard deviations from the expectations of the Standard Model.
The Conversation - There is a one in 16,000 chance that the observed data is a random fluctuation if the Standard Model is correct.
The Conversation - The LHCb experiment has recorded approximately 650 billion B meson decays between 2011 and 2018.
WHERE:
Phys.org - The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is located at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, in a 27km-long circular tunnel under the French-Swiss border.
WHEN:
The Conversation - The LHCb experiment has been ongoing since its inception in 1994.
The Conversation - The new results were accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters in 2026.
The Conversation - Data from the LHCb experiment includes B meson decays recorded between 2011 and 2018, with three times as many recorded since then.
WHY:
The Conversation - The research aims to find cracks in the Standard Model, which has dominated particle physics for 50 years and does not explain gravity or dark matter.
HOW:
The Conversation - The LHC accelerates beams of proton particles in opposite directions to collide and analyze the resulting interactions.
The Conversation - The study focuses on a specific decay process known as electroweak penguin decay, where B mesons decay into four other particles.
The Conversation - Measurements of angles and energies of particles produced in the decay were analyzed to determine the frequency of the process.
(UPDATED April 20, 2026 21:15 UTC)
Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva have reported potential signs of undiscovered physics, revealing a significant disagreement with the predictions of the Standard Model regarding B meson decay. The findings, which show a tension of four standard deviations from expected outcomes, were accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters in 2026, and they stem from data collected during the LHCb experiment, which has been ongoing since 1994 and has recorded approximately 650 billion B meson decays. This research aims to uncover cracks in the Standard Model, which has been the foundation of particle physics for the past 50 years but fails to explain gravity or dark matter.