| Themes > Science > Physics > Elementary particle physics > Elementary particle physics Today > Elementary particle physics Today > Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry |
Another outstanding problem in elementary particle physics is the very small asymmetry between the properties of matter and antimatter (particles and antiparticles), related to CP violation. When first observed in a 1964 Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) experiment, this asymmetry came as a complete surprise. Since then we have learned that CP violation is a necessary ingredient for explaining the dominance of matter over antimatter in our universe. The origin of CP violation remains mysterious to this day. Within the framework of the Standard Model, CP violation can be accommodated through quark mixing effects. Such mixings give testable predictions that are being studied in K meson decays and will be further scrutinized in B decays. The Standard Model, however, does not really explain the underlying reason for CP violation. Furthermore, it appears that an additional source of CP violation from some as-yet-undiscovered new physics may be necessary to explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry of our universe. Testing the Standard Model's description of this phenomenon and searching for non-standard CP violation are major goals of high-energy physics. Following that path may lead us to an understanding of the origin of mass and our universe. |
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