In 1995, 'Standard Model' theorists were elated when this huge detector, located at Fermilab, confirmed predictions of the top quark. Now there may be something more. Particle physicists are on tenterhooks again. When researchers at Fermilab a particle accelerator near Batavia, Illinois, confirmed the existence of the top quark in 1995, for many onlookers the event had all the drama of election night in the former Soviet Union.
Quarks are the building bocks of which protons and neutrons are made.
More intriguing results emerged from Fermilab a year ago. The ZEUS detector began showing results that hinted at the leptoquark last fall. DESY houses the Hadron Elektron Ring Anlage, or HERA , an accelerator that smashes protons against positrons, the antimatter versions of electrons. Although neither result in itself was statistically significant, together they seemed substantial enough to merit the attention of the wider community. Indeed, if it holds up, the discovery would be remarkable.