Large Hadron Collider Researchers Discover Decay In Supersymmetry Theory

Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland have discovered a decay in an important physics theory known as supersymmetry. This theory is in place to predict the existence of super particles. Nicknamed SUSY, the Supersymmetry theory is a way to explain some of the inconsistencies in the traditional theory of subatomic physics.

The new observations, which were reported at the Hadron Collider Physics conference in Kyoto, Japan, is not consistent with many of the most likely models of the theory, and researchers were hoping that the Large Hadron Collider would have confirmed the SUSY theory by now. However, the theory isn't dead yet, but the latest results certainly put it up on the chopping block.

Supersymmetry claims that more massive versions of particles exist from what has already been detected. The existence of these larger particles would help explain why galaxies appear to rotate faster than what the Standard Model would suggest. Physicists have speculated that galaxies contain invisible dark matter made up of super particles, which results in these galaxies containing more mass than we can detect.

Researchers have measured the decay between a particle known as a Bs Meson can split into two particles known as muons. It's the first time this decay has been observed, and the team has calculated that for every one billion times the Bs Meson decays, it only decays this way three times. If super particles existed, the decay would happen far more often. This test was the one that would be the deciding factor of whether the theory was true or not, but researchers have said that while the theory still has promise, this failed experiment is a major blow on the supersymmetry.

[via BBC]