World’s most precise measurements of subatomic particle lifetimes produced by Belle II
Early measurements like these provide proof that the Belle II experiment will be able to continue making extremely precise measurements.
The Belle II experiment has recently made precise measurements of the lifetime of subatomic particles called quarks and leptons (such as electrons and neutrinos). These particles are believed to be the building blocks of all visible matter in the universe.
Collisions of electron and positron beams created the high-energy environment needed to produce subatomic particles.
Researchers claimed that this measurement is highly sensitive to the calibration and alignment of detector components and, therefore, it provides a probe of these components.
World-leading measurement
The innermost detector component is made of silicon pixels to improve the resolution with which particle decays can be identified and measured.
Using the new, state-of-the-art detector, the Belle II experiment reported a world-leading measurement of the Λ+𝑐 charmed baryon using the weak decay Λ+𝑐→pK-π+.
“This result will be useful for providing stringent tests of theoretical methods that are used to make predictions for new particles and interactions beyond the Standard Model,” said researchers in a statement.
The detector upgrades at Belle II helped it to make the most precise measurement of the lifetime of the Λ+𝑐 particle, using only a small fraction of the total data sample to be collected over the life of the experiment.