pentaquark

[uscphysics]

What are your takes on the evidence for the new pentaquark. Three seperate facilities have found evidince for this exotic particle. One of the most interesting facits to this is the fact that the Z+ particle has only one strange quark involved. The exact composition is uuddanti-strange.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2003-06-30-matter-usat_x.htm has some information from the Japanese colaborators. Jefferson Laboratories is currently preparing their paper for publishing also.

[atinymonkey]

Ohhh. That means they have discovered the anti-quark.

 

Apparently.

[zakfab]

Now what will they call it when they find a new 5-quark particle? pentaquark 2? heh.

 

So doe sthis mean there could be more and more combinations of quarks we havn't yet discovered?

[uscphysics]

Well, the anti-quark has been known to exist from pi+ and K+ , K0 productions and other particle interactions. The biggest issue with this, is the fact that a five quark particle exists. Also that it only hasone strange quark in it. As far as I know, because of the one strange quark (and other things as well), it was thought to only exist in theory. Now that there is evidence that this exotic particle exist, which they know call theta +, there are two other pentaquark particles in this model which people will be looking for. But for now, they are seeing if this particle has proof of evidence in many other reactions by looking at previous data and checking to make sure they have not over looked anything. Oh one example of an antiquark exists in the anti proton. This is not anti matter, this is just a particle which is the same mass, and all the same characteristics as a proton, but has a negative charge

[uscphysics]

There are many theoretical models which predict different types of these exotic particles, ig particles made up of more than three quarks. Many are considered, due to too many reasons and too complicated to go into, to be impossible to exist in nature, but this theta + seemed to be the most probible to find, and now there is evidence for its existance.