The breakthrough was achieved after significant hardware upgrades allowed the LHCb detector to resume operations in 2024 at five times its previous data-collection rate. Physicists combined this enhanced hardware with machine learning algorithms to isolate the rare muon signals from overwhelming background noise. While researchers successfully confirmed a related Bs decay process in 2015, observing this specific Bd decay had eluded them because it occurs roughly 30 times less frequently.
Key points
The newly measured decay rates align with the Standard Model while significantly narrowin…: The newly measured decay rates align with the Standard Model while significantly narrowing the scope of theoretical physics beyond current collider reach.
Scientists successfully extracted the faint decay signals from massive background noise u…: Scientists successfully extracted the faint decay signals from massive background noise using machine learning and enhanced particle-identification tools.
This milestone marks the first time that a single particle physics experiment has generat…: This milestone marks the first time that a single particle physics experiment has generated sufficient evidence to document this elusive decay.
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- Date:
- November 9, 2026
- Source:
- CERN
- Summary:
- CERN scientists have finally found evidence of a particle decay so rare that it happens only once in roughly 10 billion decays, ending a search spanning more than 40 years. The breakthrough could help physicists uncover hidden particles and forces that lie beyond the reach of today's most powerful accelerators.
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After more than 40 years of searching, physicists at CERN have reached a major milestone in their hunt for one of the rarest known particle decays. Researchers working with the LHCb experiment have detected evidence of a process expected to occur only once in approximately 10 billion beauty particle decays.
The finding, announced during a seminar at CERN, marks the first time a single experiment has produced sufficient evidence for this extraordinarily rare event. Beyond its rarity, the decay is particularly valuable because it could help scientists investigate particles that are too massive to be created directly in the Large Hadron Collider.
At the center of the discovery is a particle called Bd, which contains…
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