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eaviest,%20most%20massive%20ones:%0A%09%E2%80%A2%09the%20top%20quark%20and%20antiquark%20(at%20~173%20GeV/c%C2%B2%20each),%0A%09%E2%80%A2%09the%20Higgs%20boson%20(at%20~126%20GeV/c%C2%B2),%0A%09%E2%80%A2%09the%20Z-boson%20(at%20~91%20GeV/c%C2%B2),%0A%09%E2%80%A2%09and%20the%20W-bosons%20(both%20positively%20and%20negatively%20charged%20versions,%20at%20~80%20GeV/c%C2%B2%20each).%0AThese%20particles%20normally%20decay%20rapidly%20but%20travel,%20at%20least%20initially%20after%20their%20creation,%20rather%20slowly%20compared%20to%20the%20speed%20of%20light.%20Because%20they%20require%20so%20much%20energy%20to%20bring%20into%20existence,%20even%20at%20an%20accelerator%20like%20the%20LHC,%20it%E2%80%99s%20very%20difficult%20to%20create%20them%20with%20a%20lot%20of%20kinetic%20energy.%20It%E2%80%99s%20only%20the%20lighter%20particles,%20the%20decay%20products%20of%20these%20very%20heavy%20particles,%20or%20the%20remnants%20of%20the%20initial%20protons%20(which%20themselves%20move%20at%20around%20299,792,455%20m/s%20before%20the%20collision)%20that%20travel%20quickly.%0A%0AThe%20rest%20masses%20of%20the%20fundamental%20particles%20in%20the%20Universe%20determine%20when%20and%20under%20what%20conditions%20they%20can%20be%20created,%20and%20also%20relate%20to%20how%20long%20they%20can%20survive%20after%20their%20creation%20during%20the%20hot%20Big%20Bang.%20The%20more%20massive%20a%20particle%20is,%20the%20less%20time%20it%20can%20spontaneously%20be%20created%20in%20the%20early%20Universe,%20and%20the%20shorter%20its%20lifetime%20will%20be.%0ACredit:%20Universe-review%0ABut%20if%20you%20push%20these%20four%20species%20of%20particle%20aside%20and%20ask,%20%E2%80%9CWhat%E2%80%99s%20the%20next%20heaviest%20particle%3F%E2%80%9D%20the%20answer%20is%20kind%20of%20surprising:%20it%E2%80%99s%20the%20bottom%20quark%20and%20antiquark,%20but%20it%E2%80%99s%20only%20about%205%25%20the%20mass%20of%20the%20W-bosons,%20with%20a%20mass%20between%20~4%20and%205%20GeV/c%C2%B2.%20Unlike%20the%20top%20quark,%20which%20decays%20after%20less%20than%20a%20yoctosecond%20(10-24%20seconds)%20%E2%80%94%20which%20is%20too%20short%20of%20a%20timescale%20to%20even%20form%20hadrons%20like%20baryons%20and%20mesons%20%E2%80%94%20the%20bottom%20quark%20lives%20for%20about%20a%20picosecond%20(10-12%20seconds),%20which%20might%20seem%20incredibly%20short,%20but%20it%E2%80%99s%20more%20than%20a%20trillion%20times%20longer-lived%20than%20the%20heaviest%20quark.%20As%20a%20result,%20the%20bottom%20quark%20(and%20antiquark)%20always%20form%20hadrons,%20whether%20a%20baryon,%20an%20antibaryon,%20or%20a%20meson.%0A%0ABeing%20relatively%20light,%20at%20least%20compared%20to%20the%20heaviest%20Standard%20Model%20particles,%20means%20that%20particles%20containing%20bottom%20quarks%20or%20antiquarks%20created%20at%20the%20LHC%20(which,%20remember,%20collides%20protons%20with%20protons%20at%20~14%20TeV%20of%20energy,%20or%20~14,000%20GeV)%20always%20move%20very%20close%20to%20the%20speed%20of%20light.%20These%20can%20still%20be%20detected%20by%20CMS%20or%20ATLAS,%20and%20are,%20but%20there%E2%80%99s%20another%20detector%20that%E2%80%99s%20even%20better%20suited%20to%20measuring%20these%20bottom-quark%20(or%20bottom-antiquark)%20containing%20hadrons:%20LHCb.%20This%20enormous%20detector,%205600%20metric%20tonnes%20in%20mass%20and%20more%20than%2021%20meters%20(65%20feet)%20long,%20is%20managed%20by%20a%20team%20of%20more%20than%201500%20scientists,%20enabling%20them%20to%20reconstruct%20the%20particle%20tracks%20and%20debris,%20as%20well%20as%20particle%20decays,%20that%20result%20from%20bottom%20quark%20(or%20antiquark)%20containing%20composite%20particles.%0AThe%20LHCb%20detector,%20at%205600%20metric%20tonnes,%20is%2021%20meters%20long,%2010%20meters%20high,%20and%2013%20meters%20wide,%20optimized%20for%20detecting%20and%20studying%20particles%20(and%20their%20subsequent%20decays)%20that%20contain%20b-quarks%20inside%20them.%20At%20present,%20there%20are%20over%201500%20scientists,%20engineers,%20and%20technicians%20that%20work%20on%20the%20LHCb%20collaboration.%0ACredit:%20CERN/LHCb%20collaboration%0AAccording%20to%20the%20Standard%20Model,%20there%20are%20rules%20that%20these%20particles%20must%20obey.%20A%20bottom%20quark%20(or%20antiquark)%20can%20only%20decay%20to%20products%20that%20include%20either%20an%20up%20quark%20(or%20antiquark)%20or%20a%20charm%20quark%20(or%20antiquark);%20no%20other%20possibilities%20are%20allowed.%20Electric%20charge%20needs%20to%20be%20conserved,%20as%20do%20the%20energy%20and%20momenta%20of%20all%20the%20products%20resulting%20from%20decays.%20And%20if%20you%E2%80%99re%20going%20to%20make%20a%20specific%20type%20of%20hadron%20%E2%80%94%20a%20meson%20%E2%80%94%20that%20contains%20a%20bottom%20quark%20(or%20antiquark),%20then%20the%20antiquark%20(or%20quark)%20that%20accompanies%20it%20inside%20the%20meson%20must%20be%20of%20the%20up,%20down,%20strange,%20charm,%20or%20bottom%20variety.%20Again,%20no%20other%20possibilities%20are%20allowed.%0ABut%20the%20Standard%20Model%20has%20rules%20that%20are%20even%20more%20intricate%20than%20these:%20rules%20that%20govern%20the%20decays%20of%20particles%20that%20contain%20a%20bottom%20quark%20(or%20antiquark).%20In%20particular,%20mesons%20that%20pair%20a%20bottom%20quark/antiquark%20with%20one%20of%20the%20three%20very%20light%20antiquarks/quarks%20(up,%20down,%20or%20strange)%20can%20often%20decay%20into%20two%20other%20mesons,%20where%20pions%20(which%20are%20made%20of%20up-and-down%20quarks%20only,%20and%20include%20the%20positively%20charged%20%CF%80+,%20the%20neutral%20%CF%800,%20and%20the%20negatively%20charged%20%CF%80%E2%80%93)%20and%20kaons%20(which%20include%20one%20strange%20quark%20or%20antiquark,%20and%20come%20in%20four%20varieties:%20the%20K+,%20K%E2%80%93,%20as%20well%20as%20two%20neutral%20kaons,%20the%20K-short%20and%20the%20K-long)%20are%20extremely%20common.%0AAlthough%20there%20are%20literally%20dozens%20of%20possible%20decays%20for%20these%20B-mesons%20(any%20meson%20that%20has%20at%20least%20one%20bottom%20quark%20or%20antiquark),%20the%20ones%20that%20decay%20into%20pions%20and/or%20kaons%20fall%20into%20two%20broad%20categories:%0A%09%E2%80%A2%09a%20category%20where%20the%20total%20number%20of%20strange%20quarks%20and%20antiquarks%20doesn%E2%80%99t%20change%20during%20the%20decay,%0A%09%E2%80%A2%09and%20a%20category%20where%20the%20total%20number%20of%20strange%20quarks%20and%20antiquarks%20changes%20by%20%C2%B11.%0AThis%20to-scale%20diagram%20shows%20the%20relative%20masses%20of%20the%20quarks%20and%20leptons,%20with%20neutrinos%20being%20the%20lightest%20particles%20and%20the%20top%20quark%20being%20the%20heaviest.%20No%20explanation,%20within%20the%20Standard%20Model%20alone,%20can%20account%20for%20these%20mass%20values.%0ACredit:%20Luis%20%C3%81lvarez-Gaum%C3%A9/CERN%20Latin%20American%20School%20of%20HEP,%202019%0AOne%20of%20the%20properties%20of%20the%20Standard%20Model%20that%20isn%E2%80%99t%20generally%20appreciated%20is%20known%20as%20flavor%20universality.%20This%20means%20that%20the%20interactions%20of%20the%20Standard%20Model%20apply%20equally,%20with%20the%20same%20strength%20and%20properties,%20to%20all%20the%20different%20species%20of%20particles%20of%20the%20same%20type.%20The%20interactions%20experienced%20by%20the%20electron,%20muon,%20and%20tau%20should%20be%20universal;%20that%E2%80%99s%20called%20lepton%20flavor%20universality.%20Since%20the%20early%202010s,%20there%20were%20serious%20experimental%20questions%20about%20whether%20lepton%20flavor%20universality%20was%20violated%20by%20B-meson%20decays%20that%20involved%20leptons%20(specifically,%20the%20muon%20or%20electron).%0A%0AIt%20was%20only%20in%202022%20that%20scientists%20discovered%20a%20series%20of%20mis-identified%20backgrounds;%20once%20they%20were%20properly%20accounted%20for,%20lepton%20universality%20prevailed.%20B-meson%20decays,%20after%20over%20a%20decade%20of%20study,%20appeared%20consistent%20with%20the%20Standard%20Model%20after%20all.%0AHowever,%20quark%20flavor%20universality%20is%20a%20similar%20concept%20that%20has%20gotten%20far%20less%20attention.%20Under%20the%20strong,%20electromagnetic,%20and%20weak%20neutral%20current%20(Z-boson%20involving)%20interactions,%20the%20quark%20sector%20exhibits%20flavor%20universality%20as%20well.%20It%E2%80%99s%20true%20that%20B-meson%20decays%20are%20not%20universal,%20but%20that%E2%80%99s%20because%20there%20are%20specific%20rules%20within%20the%20Standard%20Model%20for%20how%20quarks%20mix%20together.%20Once%20you%20account%20for%20the%20parameters%20in%20the%20CKM-mixing%20matrix,%20it%20allows%20you%20to%20compute%20how%20frequently%20you%20expect%20B-mesons,%20whether%20they%E2%80%99re%20created%20with%20or%20without%20strange%20quarks/antiquarks%20inside,%20to%20produce%20a%20decay%20product%20that%20contains%20either%20the%20same%20number%20of%20strange%20quarks/antiquarks%20or%20for%20that%20number%20to%20differ%20by%20%C2%B11%20from%20the%20initial%20value.%0AThis%20diagram%20shows%20the%20allowable%20decays%20of%20quarks%20in%20the%20Standard%20Model%20via%20the%20weak%20interaction.%20Note%20that%20bottom%20quarks%20(or%20antiquarks)%20can%20only%20decay%20to%20either%20charm%20or%20up%20quarks%20within%20the%20Standard%20Model,%20with%20charm%20quarks%20being%20the%20most%20common.%0ACredit:%20Niamh%20O%E2%80%99C%20at%20English%20Wikipedia%0AAs%20the%20authors%20of%20a%20brand%20new%20paper,%20published%20in%20late%20November%20of%202024%20in%20Physical%20Review%20Letters,%20note,%20all%20of%20the%20decays%20that%20involve%20B-mesons%20decaying%20to%20either:%0A%09%E2%80%A2%09two%20pions,%0A%09%E2%80%A2%09two%20kaons,%0A%09%E2%80%A2%09or%20one%20pion%20and%20one%20kaon,%0Aare%20related%20to%20one%20another%20by%20a%20flavor%20symmetry%20between%20up,%20down,%20and%20strange%20quarks:%20an%20example%20of%20what%20particle%20physicists%20specifically%20call%20a%20flavor%20SU(3)%20symmetry.%2020%20years%20ago,%20one%20nee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