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Science

相比使用更传统的质子对撞机,物理学家希望通过碰撞被称为μ介子(muons)的不稳定重亚原子粒子,更快、更便宜地获取到新发现所需的高能。但是这项未经证实的技术具有挑战性,因为μ介子会在不到1秒钟的时间内衰变。在封面图展示的模拟实验中我们可以看到,碰撞产物极速穿过μ介子衰变产生的外来粒子薄雾。

Bycolliding weighty,unstable subatomic particles called muons,physicists hope to reach the high energies needed for new discoveries more quickly and cheaply than with a more-conventional proton collider.But the unproven technology is challenging because muons decay in a fraction of a second.In the simulation shown here,collision products streak through a haze of extraneous particles from the muons'decay.