Iranian researchers at the University of Tehran have opened a new theoretical path for studying a largely unexplored class of particles that could contain the top quark, the heaviest known elementary particle.<\/p>\n
A research team at the university\u2019s Faculty of Physics has carried out a series of studies examining whether different types of hadrons, containing one, two or even three top quarks could exist.<\/p>\n
A hadron is a particle made up of two or more quarks, such as the proton and neutron that make up the atomic nucleus.
\nThe work has been published in international journals including the<\/p>\n
European Physical Journal C, the International Journal of Theoretical Physics and Annals of Physics, with the studies also made available through the arXiv research repository.<\/p>\n
The latest study focuses on hadrons containing a single top quark.
\nUsing a theoretical method known as QCD Sum Rules, the researchers calculated the masses of a broad range of hypothetical particles, including different types of baryons and mesons.<\/p>\n
Their earlier studies examined top-antitop systems, known as toponium, as well as hypothetical baryons containing three top quarks and particles containing two top quarks.<\/p>\n
Together, the studies provide a systematic picture of what different top-containing hadrons might look like and how they could potentially be detected.<\/p>\n
The top quark is particularly unusual because, despite being the heaviest of the six known quarks, it exists for an extraordinarily short time \u2014 about 5\u00d710\u207b\u00b2\u2075 seconds.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udd30 For the first time, University of Tehran physicists have theoretically calculated the masses of a broad range of hypothetical hadrons containing a single top quark.<\/p>\n
The findings could offer new insights into strong interactions and particle physics.#IranFirst<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/wBZPP7nHQf<\/a><\/p>\n