Editorial use only. This image may not be used to state or imply endorsement by CERN of any product, activity or service Production & decay of mesons

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Editorial use only. This image may not be used to state or imply endorsement by CERN of any product, activity or service Production & decay of mesons in the ALEPH detector at CERN. The computer display is a close-up of the event in picture A142/448. An electron & positron, accelerated in CERN's LEP collider, annihilate to produce a B meson consisting of a bottom quark bound with a strange antiquark. The B meson (fine dotted track) decays to a D meson when the bottom quark turns into a lighter charm quark, emitting an electron (green) & unseen neutrino. The D meson (second dotted track) decays when its charm quark turns into a lighter strange quark which, with the original strange antiquark, form 2 kaons (blue). The D also creates an up quark & down antiquark that make a pion (yellow).Other particles are red.

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Size: 6687px × 5251px
Photo credit: © CERN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: aleph, bottom, cern, charm, collider, computer, detector, display, electronic, high-energy, kaons, lep, mesons, odyssey, panoramic, particle, particles, physics, quarks, research, screen, silicon, strange, strip, subatomic