Physics researchers are about to make a fascinating discovery: a new particle known as a “glueball” may be on the verge of being identified, say Big Think. This particle is nothing but a form of interaction based on gluons, those elementary particles responsible for transmitting the strong nuclear force.
In the microscopic universe of subatomic particles, gluons play a crucial role in binding quarks together, forming an essential interface in atomic structure, experts say. The strong nuclear force it mediates is distinctive in its complexity and is often called “color,” a term introduced in the 1960s to describe how the three fundamental charges of quarks interact.
Matter in space, new theories
When we explore the fundamental particles of the universe, such as the proton that forms atomic nuclei, we discover a truly fascinating structure. The proton is made up of three quarks, each with a specific color. Interestingly, these colors combine in such a way that they cancel each other out, allowing the proton to have a neutral overall charge.
On the other hand, mesons are different compounds consisting of a single quark and an antimatter. They do not possess color charges, but require the existence of “anticolor” charges to maintain their stability within subatomic interactions. The duality between particle structures gives us an intriguing insight into the fundamental nature of matter.
Gluons, those particles composed of a colorful mixture, perform a mysterious dance of interactions with quarks and even with themselves. These fundamental actors of the subatomic world have the ability to unite and form a distinct entity, without the need for the presence of quarks.
How the “glue ball” was discovered
The BES III particle accelerator in Beijing has become an essential focal point. Here, a team of researchers succeeded in creating a specific type of meson, called the (J/psi) meson, an unstable particle with an extremely short lifetime.
By analyzing and studying the decay of more than 10 billion mesons (J/psi), the researchers detected promising signs of a new particle, named X(2370), with an estimated mass of 2,395 MeV/c2. This value matches theoretical predictions that anticipate the existence of a subatomic entity called a “glue ball” at this specific energy level.
However, despite this strong evidence supporting the hypothesis of the existence of glue balls, the researchers are aware that further investigations are needed to solidify and definitively validate these remarkable observations.
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