An illustration of a pentaquark
CERN/Science Photo Library
Researchers at the CERN particle physics laboratory’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland have discovered a new type of particle called a strange pentaquark. Finding exotic particles like this could help us figure out how hadrons – subatomic particles such as protons and neutrons that are made up of quarks – are held together.
Pentaquarks, true to their name, are made up of four quarks and one antiquark, and they are not expected to form anywhere in nature, making them extraordinarily rare. “Usually conventional hadrons are made up …
