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CERN discovers a new 'exotic' heavy particle called a tetraquark

Researchers at the world’s biggest atom smasher observed a type of four-quark particle physicists had never seen before.

Illustration of a new tetraquark detected for the first time at CERN
Illustration of a new tetraquark detected for the first time at CERN (AN/CERN)

GENEVA (AN) — Researchers at the world’s biggest atom smasher announced they have observed a subatomic particle that physicists have never seen before and could lead to better understanding of a fundamental building block of all matter.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known by its French acronym CERN, said on Wednesday this marks the first time that an exotic particle made up of four charm quarks has been seen. The findings, published online on the arXiv preprint server, come from CERN's LHCb collaboration.

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