Fermilab today announced that scientists working at the CDF (Collision Detector at Fermilab) experiment confirmed the observation of a new particle, the Xi-sub-b.
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© ConcievablyTechCollision Detector at Fermilab

The Xi-sub-b is categorized as are baryon, which are formed of three quarks. Commonly known baryons include the proton ( two up quarks and one down quark) as well as the neutron (two down quarks and one up quark). The existence of the Xi-sub-b has been predicted for some time, but it has been observed for the very first time just recently. It is described as a heavy relative of the neutron and is six times heavier than the proton or neutron. Conclusively, it is a member of the bottom baryons.

The Xi-sub-b was produced at the Tevatron particle accelerator and collider, which integrates the CDF experiment, in Batavia, Illinois. the scientists noted that the Tevatron is not a dedicated bottom quark "factpory." However "trillions of proton-antiproton collisions have made it a haven for discovering and studying almost all of the known bottom baryons." Experiments at the Tevatron discovered the Sigma-sub-b baryons in 2006, the Xi-b-minus baryon in 2007, and the Omega-sub-b baryon in 2009. The lightest bottom baryon, the Lambda-sub-b, was discovered at CERN.

According to the scientists, the neutral Xi-sub-b travels just a fraction of a millimeter before it decays into lighter particles. the Xi-sub-b was observed in 25 instances among almost 500 trillion proton-antiproton collisions.