The LHC's best 2025 discovery points the way to new physics
Briefly

The LHC's best 2025 discovery points the way to new physics
"All the planets, stars, and galaxies we see are composed of matter, not antimatter. But physics hasn't yet discovered how that occurred. Einstein's E = mc² allows us to create and destroy matter. But there's a cost: only if we create or destroy an equivalent amount of antimatter. To create a fundamental matter-antimatter asymmetry, three conditions must be met. 1.) The Universe must be out of equilibrium. 2.) There must be enough C-violation and CP-violation. 3.) There must be baryon number-violating processes."
"The known Standard Model exhibits C-violation and CP-violation, but not enough of it. CP-violation has been observed for strange, charm, and bottom quark decays, but only in mesons. For years, theorists have predicted CP-violation in baryons, but never saw it until now. In 2025, for the first time, the LHCb collaboration demonstrated baryonic CP-violation. Two species of b-quark containing baryons decayed to s-quark containing ones, showing robust CP-asymmetries. This is consistent with their observed CP-violation in the meson sector."
All observable macroscopic structures are composed of matter, not antimatter, yet physics has not explained how that asymmetry arose. Einstein’s E = mc² allows matter creation and destruction only paired with equivalent antimatter. Creating a fundamental matter–antimatter asymmetry requires nonequilibrium conditions, sufficient C and CP violation, and baryon-number–violating processes. The Standard Model exhibits C and CP violation but insufficiently. CP violation has been seen in strange, charm, and bottom meson decays. In 2025 LHCb reported the first observation of baryonic CP violation: two b‑quark–containing baryons decayed to s‑quark baryons with robust CP asymmetries, supporting progress toward baryogenesis.
Read at Big Think
Unable to calculate read time
[
|
]