Tauonium: The Hunt for a New Atom in Quantum Physics

In the vast field of quantum physics, scientists are almost done finding tauonium, a type of atom that has never been seen before.

This suggested atom, made up of a tau lepton and an antitau, antimatter, could completely change how we think about fundamental particles and the forces that control them.

Tauonium Atom Near Discovery — (Photo: Unsplash/Terry Vlisidis )

On the Lookout for Tauonium

Tau leptons are cousins of electrons and are even heavier than protons. Each has about 3,500 times an electron's mass, making it even heavier. The idea of tauonium is similar to positronium, an atom found in the 1950s made up of an electron and a positron, which is the opposite of an electron.

If tauonium were found, it would be a heavier version of these known atoms. Scientists want to find tauonium by combining electrons and positrons at future particle colliders planned for China and Russia. These colliders will be built to make tau leptons.

These labs might be able to find tauonium within their first year of operation. In a recent piece in Science Bulletin, physicist Jing-Hang Fu of Beijing's Beihang University and his colleagues suggested a new way to find tauonium by examining how certain particles interact when they collide.

What It Means in Quantum Electrodynamics (QED)

The theory of electrically charged particles called quantum electrodynamics (QED) can be tested and expanded in a way that has never been possible with tauonium. Studies of tauonium might give us a better understanding of QED since they don't involve the complicated structure of an atomic center.

Positronium and other QED atoms have been crucial in testing the theory's ideas. Fu and his team studied the ratio of the chances of different particle interactions in collider experiments and devised a way to lower the uncertainty of the tests. The goal of this method is to find tauonium very accurately.

There are only 30.4 femtometers between tauonium atoms, which is a tiny fraction of the size of a hydrogen atom. Because it is so tiny, tauonium can be used to study the basic ideas of quantum physics and QED at small scales.

Evidence from Experiments and What They Mean

The scientists showed that getting 1.5 ab^-1 of data near the tauon pair production threshold at an electron and positron collider could give strong evidence for tauonium, with a detection significance greater than 5π. This strong experimental proof would not only prove that tauonium exists, but it would also make it possible to measure the mass of the tau lepton with unprecedented accuracy down to 1 keV, which is two orders of magnitude better than what is possible now.

Finding tauonium and getting accurate measures of the tau lepton mass would significantly affect how we understand the electroweak theory within the Standard Model of particle physics. Furthermore, it would answer essential questions about lepton flavor universality, a theory that says the electron, muon, and tau leptons should behave similarly, with the only difference being their masses.

The interesting next stage in quantum physics, which may result in novel theories about the nature of the universe, is the hunt for tauonium. Particle colliders in China and Russia are preparing for this massive task.

Scientists are thrilled about the possible discoveries that tauonium may make. Not only will a new kind of atom be discovered, but our understanding of the very small world will also be increased, increasing the significance of quantum electrodynamics and the Standard Model.

Scientists are studying tauonium to learn more about matter's nature and its fundamental processes. This might result in more discoveries in the dynamic subject of quantum physics.