Researchers propose a new way to search for physics beyond the Standard Model by studying quantum-entangled quark pairs produced in electron-positron collisions

Particle collision (Courtesy: iStock/Girolamo Sferrazza)

A quark is a fundamental building block of matter. There are six types known as flavours of quark: up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top. Quarks combine to form particles known as hadrons. Most ordinary matter is made from up and down quarks, for example, a proton consists of two up quarks and one down quark, while a neutron consists of one up quark and two down quarks. Electrons belong to a different family of particles called leptons and are not made of quarks.

Particle physicists continuously test the Standard Model of particle physics to search for signs of new phenomena. One possibility is that quarks possess anomalous magnetic or electric dipole moments, which would indicate physics beyond the Standard Model.…