CP violation
Measuring differences between matter and antimatter decays and testing whether the Standard Model accounts for the observed asymmetries.
CERN · Large Hadron Collider
LHCb
LHCb studies particles containing beauty and charm quarks to investigate why matter and antimatter behave differently and to test the Standard Model with exceptional precision.
- LHC
- proton collisions
- Forward
- spectrometer geometry
- Beauty & charm
- heavy-flavour physics
Scientific purpose
A precision view of the matter–antimatter puzzle
The early Universe is expected to have produced matter and antimatter in nearly equal amounts, yet the observable Universe is dominated by matter. LHCb examines subtle asymmetries in the decays of short-lived particles, especially hadrons containing beauty or charm quarks. Comparing particles with their antiparticles provides demanding tests of our current theory and may reveal effects that it cannot explain.
Physics programme
What LHCb investigates
Rare decays
Studying highly suppressed processes where small contributions from unknown particles or forces could become visible.
Hadron spectroscopy
Mapping conventional and exotic combinations of quarks to understand how the strong interaction builds composite particles.