Single Top Quark

Fermilab researchers Heidi Schellman and Ann Heinson take a whimsical look at the recent announcement of the discovery of the single top quark, by Fermilab's CDF and DZero experiments.

[raffofiction]

well... i may be stupid... but i'm glad they discovered a quark. the last time i read about quarks the author said gluons would keep quarks so tightly that nobody will ever see a quark alone.

[TearyEyesAnderson]

Physics never looked so cuddly :) Only a few more days left for them to find that Higgs particle before the LHC begins it's race towards finding it, I wish them both luck and am sure both projects will come up with separate great discoveries of their own. Hopefully these cuddly things will available to the public so everyone will have a chance to separate particles and put them back together. :D

[quicknuclearscience]

If im correct the first quark they put on the table is a top quark, just the regular quark, not decaying. Then the "single decaying top quark" they pull out is actualy a bottom quark not a top quark. When they unzipped it it turned into a top quark not a b meson. The two things they got right were the anti- muon and the muon nutrino.

[orbsandtea]

Yes indeed, they didn't actrually see the quark, they saw the decay products that could only have been emitted from a single top quark. ;)

[chaosopher]

That was a cute way to demonstrate it! Now, if the single top quark is indeed single, let's find it a date... (seriously, I am going back to school to learn this stuff, and like to make jokes about it when I can. Learning tool!)

[sonickid]

Well, from what I understand, it wasn't just one top quark sitting there that they could look at- the gluons would keep it bound. But I guess they found the decay products which would indicate a single decaying Top quark.

I didn't follow exactly what they said but that's what I understand.

[orbsandtea]

WOW! Beautiful work Fermilab! :D

I liked the puppet illustration... I want one! XD

[michellebteeheehee]

l never knew that leptons could be adorable.

[Nerfherder]

ok I'm confused is this some sort of baryon

[MaryStewart]

wonder if people contain higgs bosons?> :)

love heidi! great viid!

[TheTouchedIpod]

i love these guys i have the universe and higgs bobson :D

[ironDsteele]

Not it makes you wonder...what purpose do Top Quarks serve? Why do they exist?