'The evidence is starting to mount': physicists at the LHC have found a possible 'anomaly' that could unlock 'a new understanding of how the universe works' and 'charming penguins' may hold the key to whether the Standard
Model is out of date

Date:
Tue, 21 Apr 2026 20:30:00 +0000

Description:
Physicists observe a four-sigma anomaly in a rare decay process, hinting at possible new physics, while uncertainties still limit firm conclusions

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now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter A rare decay exposes cracks in physics that refuse easy explanation The Standard Model shows strain under one of its toughest tests Four-sigma anomaly hints something subtle may be missing in physics Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have found something strange inside a particle decay process called an electroweak penguin decay, which could signal a major problem for modern physics.

The LHC is a 27-kilometer circular tunnel buried under the French-Swiss
border where proton beams smash together at nearly the speed of light, recreating conditions similar to those just after the Big Bang. Experiments like LHCb analyze the collision debris to look for cracks in the Standard Model, the rulebook for particle physics that has passed every test for over 50 years despite being known to be incomplete. Article continues below You
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Claude Mythos Microsoft researchers crack AI guardrails with a single prompt How scientists spotted the glitch in a million-to-one event In their experiment, the researchers observed a B meson, a short-lived particle, breaking apart into three other particles.

This transformation is extremely rare, happening only once in every million B meson collisions.

That rarity makes it a powerful tool for spotting hidden influences from unknown particles.

Think of it like hearing a faint whisper in a noisy stadium. The whisper
might be nothing, or it might be the most important message you have ever heard. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar
Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

The scientists measured two things: the angles at which the particles fly apart, and how often the decay happens.

Both measurements disagreed with what the Standard Model of physics predicts, which sounds impressive, but physicists demand much higher certainty for a formal discovery.

The odds of this disagreement being a random fluke are about 1 in 16,000, as the current finding sits at four sigma. What to read next A new approach to navigation could reduce reliance on GPS Google warns quantum computers could break Bitcoin encryption much sooner than expected Quantum battery prototype charges faster as its size increases

The gold standard for a discovery is five sigma, which is a 1 in 1.7 million chance of being wrong.

Imagine rolling a die and getting the same number six times in a row. That is unusual, but not impossible.

Now imagine rolling the same number 20 times in a row. That would make you seriously question whether the die is fair. That is the difference between four sigma and five sigma.

There are several possible explanations if this anomaly turns out to be real.

One idea involves particles called leptoquarks, which would unite two different types of matter: leptons and quarks.

Another possibility is the existence of heavier versions of particles we already know about, extending the Standard Model rather than replacing it.

This kind of indirect evidence has happened before in physics. Radioactivity was discovered 80 years before scientists found the particles responsible for it.

This proves that you can detect something's effects long before you can see
it directly.

The current anomaly could be a similar early warning. The LHCb experiment analyzed about 650 billion B meson decays between 2011 and 2018 to find this penguin process.

Since then, the team has already collected three times more data, which will help confirm or rule out the anomaly.

Future upgrades in the 2030s will increase the dataset by 15 times, giving physicists the statistical power needed to reach a definitive conclusion.

The main complication comes from something called "charming penguins." These are Standard Model processes involving charm quarks that are very hard to calculate precisely.

Recent estimates suggest these effects are not large enough to explain the anomaly. But the calculations are so tricky that physicists cannot be completely sure yet.

Think of it like trying to measure the thickness of a hair with a ruler. The ruler is simply not precise enough for the job.

The current available data is like that ruler. It is pointing in an interesting direction, but we need a sharper tool to be certain.

The four-sigma tension is genuinely exciting, but particle physics has seen promising anomalies disappear before.

More data and better calculations could still bring the results back into
line with the Standard Model.

Last year, there was an independent LHC experiment known as CMS, which published results in agreement with the current study, albeit with lesser precision.

Together, both studies make the strongest combined case yet that something genuinely new may be operating at the most fundamental level of reality, but both share similar uncertainties.

For now, the Standard Model remains standing, but for the first time in decades it appears to be wobbling.

Whether that wobble is the beginning of a collapse or just a statistical mirage will be decided by the next few years of data.

Either outcome will teach us something profound about how science progresses when the most successful theory in history meets its first real test.

Via Phys.org Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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