The top quark, known for its high mass and short lifespan, does not easily form bound states unlike other quarks due to the characteristics of the strong nuclear force. Previous beliefs held that toponium, the bound state of a top quark and an antiquark, was unattainable because of the rapid decay of the top quark. Recent discoveries from the CMS and ATLAS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider have confirmed the existence of toponium, suggesting that universal particle behavior might be more complex than previously believed.
New research from the CMS and ATLAS collaborations at CERN's Large Hadron Collider has demonstrated the existence of toponium, the bound state of a top quark and an antiquark, at greater than 5-sigma significance.
The top quark holds the distinction of having the greatest rest mass of all known fundamental particles, with a value of just over 172 GeV/c², and a notably short lifetime of roughly half a yoctosecond.
Despite its predicted isolation due to its extremely short lifespan, the top quark has demonstrated unexpected behavior by forming bound states with its counterpart, the antiquark, in the new findings.
The findings challenge previous assumptions in particle physics about quark states, particularly the belief that toponium formation was impossible due to the quick decay of top quarks.
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