Physics Grant Targeted Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry
New research at CERN aims to solve the mystery of matter's dominance over antimatter in the early universe.
Updated on Oct. 5, 2026 in Physics
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The Swiss National Science Foundation has awarded a grant to researchers at EPFL, Nikhef, and VU Amsterdam to investigate matter and antimatter asymmetry. The team will analyze data from the LHCb experiment at CERN to probe physics beyond the Standard Model.
Why it matters
Understanding why the universe contains more matter than antimatter remains a fundamental challenge in cosmology. This research seeks to identify new physical interactions that could explain this imbalance.
The project aims to improve the precision of the CKM angle beta measurement by a factor of two to three compared to current values. Researchers will achieve this by analyzing the complete Run 3 dataset from the LHCb experiment.
The players
EPFL
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne known for its research in particle physics and advanced engineering.
Nikhef
The Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics that focuses on high-energy physics and cosmology.
CERN
The European organization operating the world's largest particle physics laboratory near Geneva.
VU Amsterdam
A research university in the Netherlands that contributes to collaborative high-energy particle physics experiments.
Swiss National Science Foundation
The primary agency in Switzerland responsible for funding academic research projects.
The details
Researchers will combine measurements of various neutral B-meson decays to determine the CKM angle beta, a parameter in the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix that describes quark mixing. The work involves calibrating the scintillating-fiber tracking detector, an apparatus that uses light-emitting plastic fibers to record the paths of charged particles. This data helps the team identify signatures of physics that fall outside the Standard Model, the current theoretical framework describing all known fundamental particles.
Timeline
October 5, 2026: The research project was formally publicized.
The Tech Race
This project builds directly upon the ongoing efforts of the LHCb experiment at CERN to map the behavior of heavy quarks. It marks a critical step in the competitive race to find evidence of physics that defies the Standard Model.
This work relies on the specialized Run 3 dataset from the LHCb experiment, which provides higher resolution particle tracking than previous runs. The study supports the academic pipeline by funding one PhD student and one postdoctoral researcher.
The takeaway
The study aims to constrain the CKM angle beta to better understand the early universe's matter-antimatter imbalance. Readers should watch for future publications regarding the refined precision measurements generated from the Run 3 LHCb dataset.
What happens next
A PhD student involved in the project is expected to complete a one-year residency at either EPFL or CERN.
Further reading
For more updates on experimental results, visit the Physics section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Nikhef.
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