The LHCb experiment, a cornerstone project at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), analyzed extensive data revealing that baryons—particles like the protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei—exhibit a distinct asymmetry. This asymmetry is a manifestation of what physicists call "charge-parity (CP) violation," which suggests that the laws of physics are not always mirror symmetric when it comes to matter and antimatter.
Previously observed in mesons in the 1960s, CP violation in baryons has been elusive until now, due in part to the challenges of detecting the subtle effects in these particles. The LHC's ability to produce vast numbers of beauty baryons and their antimatter counterparts was crucial for this achievement, with over 80,000 decay events analyzed to confirm the asymmetry.
The Dutch participation in LHCb experiment is lead by Assoc. Prof. , from (Astro-) Particle Physics section and member of NIKHEF, and counts four participating institutes (VU, RUG, UM and NWO-i Nikhef).
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