Scientists have long sought ‘glueballs’, which are bonded states of subatomic gluon particles that lack quarks, and they may have discovered them in a particle accelerator experiment.
Until now, glueballs were simply statements that physicists believed to be true
Why does it appear to be such a significant advancement in physics? Let us understand. Gluons serve an important role in atomic stability by holding quarks in place, which are the building blocks of protons and neutrons.
The gluon is a component of the strong nuclear force, which, along with gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak nuclear force, is one of the four fundamental forces of nature that maintain the principles of physics. Until now, glueballs were simply statements that physicists believed to be true since gluons should be able to bind to one another.
Individual gluons possess no matter and can only transmit force; nonetheless, glueballs have mass due to gluon interactions. If they can be identified, there will still be more evidence that the Standard Model of Particle Physics, which embodies our current understanding of how the universe works, is right.
The experiment was carried out using China’s Beijing Electron-Positron Collider II
The experiment was carried out using China’s Beijing Electron-Positron Collider II. The collider was used to smash together mesons, which are particles made up of a quark and an antiquark locked together by a strong nuclear force.
When researchers examined the subatomic debris from these particle-smashing sessions, they detected particles with an average mass of 2,395 MeV/c. That is the expected mass of glueballs.
The particle is known as X(2370), and while some of the other calculations used do not exactly match what the researchers were looking for, they are close. More measurements and observations will be needed to provide a definitive answer.
Although the evidence for glueballs is not conclusive, it is growing. Back in 2015, scientists thought they had seen glueballs. It may not be long before another particle transitions from theoretical to real.