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Please <a href="http://browsehappy.com/">upgrade your browser</a> to improve your experience.</p> <![endif]--> <!--Wrapper for page content to push down footer--> <div class="footer-wrap background"> <!-- Begin page content --> <div> <header class="theme header"> <div class="outer-navbar"> <nav class="navbar-custom"> <a class="navbar-brand" href="/"> <img src="/static/assets/img/logo_blue.png" width="115" alt=""> </a> <ul class="link-menu"> <li class="ui dropdown"> <span class="navbar-item"> <span>Help<i class="dropdown icon"></i></span> </span> <div class="menu dropdown-items"> <div class="item"><a href="https://opendata-forum.cern.ch/">Discussion forum</a></div> <div class="item"><a href="/docs/cod-search-tips">Search tips</a></div> </div> </li> <li class="ui dropdown"> <span class="navbar-item"> <span>About<i class="dropdown icon"></i></span> </span> <div class="menu dropdown-items"> <div class="item"><a href="/docs/about">CERN Open Data</a></div> <div class="item"><a href="/docs/about-alice">ALICE</a></div> <div class="item"><a href="/docs/about-atlas">ATLAS</a></div> <div class="item"><a href="/docs/about-cms">CMS</a></div> <div class="item"><a href="/docs/about-lhcb">LHCb</a></div> <div class="item"><a href="/docs/about-opera">OPERA</a></div> <div class="item"><a href="/search?type=Glossary&sort=title">Glossary</a></div> </div> </li> <span class="menu-icon"/> </ul> </nav> </header> </div> <div class="ui one centered column stackable grid container detail-page"> <div class="row"> <div class="sixteen wide column"> <div class="ui segment"> <div class="card-body"> <h1> About LHCb </h1> <p> <small> </small> </p> <p> <a class="ui tiny label blue" href="/search?f=type:Documentation">Documentation</a> <a class="ui tiny label teal" href="/search?f=type:Documentation%2Bsubtype:About">About</a> </p> <hr> <div class="news-content"> <p>The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is not only a tool with which to search for exotic new particles, but also a factory of particles whose existence is in no doubt but whose precise properties are not yet known well enough. LHCb, unlike the other experiments ATLAS and CMS, which search for new particles produced directly in the proton–proton collisions, is devoted to the study of well established particles, the beauty (B) and charmed (C) mesons. These particles, which comprise a bottom or charm quark or antiquark plus one other quark with a different “flavour”, only exist for about a trillionth of a second before decaying into lighter particles. But subtle quantum effects called loops, in which virtual particles are temporarily created by borrowing energy from the vacuum, can influence the behaviour of B and C mesons and give researchers a handle on particles that are too heavy to be produced directly.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- End page content --> <div class="footer-push"></div> <!-- Make room for footer --> </div> <section class="footer"> <div class="ui grid padded"> <div class="row"> <div class="six wide column"> <div class="ui list horizontal logos"> <div class="item"> <a href="http://alice.cern"> <img src="/static/img/alice.gif" alt="ALICE experiment" width="55" height="55" /> </a> </div> <div class="item"> <a href="https://atlas.cern"> <img src="/static/img/atlas.gif" alt="ATLAS experiment" width="55" height="55" /> </a> </div> <div class="item"> <a href="https://cms.cern"> <img src="/static/img/cms.gif" alt="CMS experiment" width="55" height="55" /> </a> </div> <div class="item"> <a href="http://lhcb.cern.ch"> <img src="/static/img/lhcb.gif" alt="LHCb experiment" width="55" height="55" /> </a> </div> <div class="item"> <a href="http://operaweb.lngs.infn.it"> <img src="/static/img/opera.gif " width="55" height="55" alt="OPERA experiment" /> </a> </div> <div class="item"> <a href="https://www.phenix.bnl.gov"> <img src="/static/img/phenix.gif " height="35" alt="PHENIX experiment" /> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="four wide column centered stretched middle aligned"> <div class="ui list horizontal copyright "> <div class="item"> © CERN, 2014–2024 · </div> <div class="item"> <a href="/terms-of-use">Terms of Use</a> · </div> <div class="item"> <a href="/privacy-policy">Privacy Policy</a> · </div> <div class="item"> <a href="https://opendata-forum.cern.ch/">Help</a> · </div> <div class="item"> <a href="https://github.com/cernopendata/opendata.cern.ch/issues" >GitHub</a > · </div> <div class="item"> <a href="https://twitter.com/cernopendata">Twitter</a> · </div> <div class="item"> <a href="mailto:opendata-support@cern.ch">Email</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="six wide column stretched align-items-end"> <div class="auto-column-grid"> <div ><a href="https://inveniosoftware.org/">Powered by Invenio</a></div> <div > <a href="http://www.cern.ch"> <img src="/static/assets/img/cern.svg" width="80px" alt="CERN" /> </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <!-- base.js --> <script src="/static/dist/js/manifest.03faac243821eca6a884.js"></script> <script src="/static/dist/js/73.d17829d5989a730eb471.js"></script> <script src="/static/dist/js/base.a469fe6312c7deed2ed8.js"></script> <!-- theme.js --> <script src="/static/dist/js/526.1e1d78e8f9e697c99edc.js"></script> <script src="/static/dist/js/theme.a14ba9f020e1239a58f8.js"></script> <!-- i18n_app.js --> <script src="/static/dist/js/i18n_app.88f6218b7503bb19d02e.js"></script> <!-- cernopendata_js.js --> <script src="/static/dist/js/cernopendata_js.a5372353449f7e23ec27.js"></script> <!-- glossary_js.js --> <script src="/static/dist/js/glossary_js.3b7f8cf4ff984558c41f.js"></script> <script> jquery(document).ready(function () { jquery('body').glossary('/glossary/json'); }); </script> <script type="text/x-mathjax-config"> MathJax.Hub.Config({ jax: ["input/TeX", "output/HTML-CSS"], tex2jax: { inlineMath: [ ['$','$'], ["\\(","\\)"] ], displayMath: [ ['$$','$$'], ["\\[","\\]"] ], processEscapes: true }, "HTML-CSS": { availableFonts: ["TeX"], matchFontHeight: false } }); </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mathjax/2.7.1/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS_HTML"></script> </body> </html>