PHYSICISTS have discovered a mysterious new subatomic particle. But they are unsure what it is, as it doesn’t fit theories that describe nuclear forces.
The particle, dubbed Ds (2317), is thought to be a “charm-strange meson”. There are supposed to be eight such particles, which are combinations of charm and strange quarks and their antimatter counterparts. Four have been discovered so far, each with their predicted properties. But the fifth, the Ds, has too small a mass.
The Ds particle is thought to be a charm quark paired with an anti-strange quark. This ought to have a mass of about…
