Scientists based in Cambridge conducted the pioneering research by evaluating data generated by the Large Hadron Collider. Located at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, the massive facility operates by colliding atoms to smash them apart and expose their fundamental components. This breakthrough into the so-called zeptoverse provides physicists with direct signals from nature's most minute boundaries. Consequently, these novel observations could finally enable researchers to formulate a more comprehensive theory explaining the mechanics of the Universe.
Key points
Physicists refer to this newly explored microscopic realm of nature as the zeptoverse.: Physicists refer to this newly explored microscopic realm of nature as the zeptoverse.
The findings may help scientists construct a more complete theory of how the Universe ope…: The findings may help scientists construct a more complete theory of how the Universe operates.
The Large Hadron Collider smashes atoms together to break them apart and expose their int…: The Large Hadron Collider smashes atoms together to break them apart and expose their internal components.
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Scientists have picked up signals from the smallest scale of nature ever explored – 100 billion times smaller than an atom. A world so small that some physicists have nicknamed it the zeptoverse.
The research, led by scientists based in Cambridge, was obtained from an experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This vast machine at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (Cern) on the Swiss-French border smashes atoms together to break them apart and discover what is inside them.
The result is important because it could help researchers develop a new, more complete theory of how the Universe works.
The BBC's science correspondent Pallab Ghosh explains just how small the zeptoverse is.
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Cambridge-led researchers analyzing collisions at the Large Hadron Collider observed beauty quarks interacting at a scale of a billion-trillionth of a metre, a realm dubbed the zeptoverse. Exploring these minute interactions could uncover the mechanisms of the universe and potentially expose invisible dark matter. However, the UK's withdrawal of its share of a planned £150m detector upgrade threatens the nation's scientific leadership in this field.