The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
University of Saskatchewan particle physicist Chary Rangacharyulu is part of an international team that has discovered a new sub-atomic particle Ð one that may change our understanding of physics and of the very early universe. Three years ago, the "pentaquark" appeared for the first time for a mere fraction of a second when the research team fired high-energy gamma rays at carbon atoms using a synchrotron in Japan. Since then, hundreds of these particles have been produced. The discovery was published this summer in Physical Review Letters. The pentaquark may have been common in the very early universe and could affect theories of how the universe began. Quarks are the building blocks of protons and neutrons, which in turn make up the nucleus of atoms. Physicists were aware of two- and three-quark particles, but had searched in vain for five-quark particles for more than three decades. "Further research on the pentaquark is likely to revise our conception of physics," said Rangacharyulu. "I would not be surprised if basic assumptions of structures and forces are questioned as a result of this discovery." The experiments were performed by the Laser Electron Photon (LEPS) collaboration at the SPring-8 synchrotron in Osaka, Japan. Rangacharyulu is the only Canadian on the LEPS team. Though the significance of the pentaquark is unknown and requires more study, the discovery has already redirected particle research around the world, he says. He also says that such discoveries could take place in Saskatoon at the U of S-owned Canadian Light Source synchrotron (www.lightsource.ca) which opens next spring.
