They emphasized that the finding may not only subvert the long- exiting “standard model” in particle physics, but also make way for the discovery of dark matters.

The results of the three — He Xiao-gang of National Taiwan University (NTU) , Jusak Tandean of University of La Verne, and G. Valencia of Iowa State University — have been published in the renowned science journal Physical Review Letters in its Feb. 23 issue.

The X particle was first observed in 2005 at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) during a failed search for dark matter. The unknown substance has puzzled physicists ever since because none of the dominant theories is capable of accounting for its characteristics.

After numerous calculations and comparisons, the trio asserted that the particle fits all the constraints of a Higgs bosons under the “next-to-minimal super-symmetric standard model.” The “standard model” of particle physics suggested in 1974 that there should be a series of “elementary particles, “ including the boson hypothesized by Peter Higgs in 1964. However, to date, although all other particles have been found, the Higgs boson was yet to be discovered.

Later in the 1980’s,a new theory,the “next-to-minimal super-symmetric standard model” was introduced, with a new assumption that there should seven kinds of Higgs boson particles, and every elementary particle should have a unique counterpart,a super-symmetric particle.

Since then,neither the seven Higgs bosons nor the super-symmetric particles have been observed.

He, of NTU, noted that even though they didn’t find “the” standard model Higgs boson, they found “something of even greater significance,” which means that by confirming particle X to be one of the seven Higgs bosons they cannot only assert the existence of other Higgs bosons, but also expand the theoretical foundations of particle physics from the standard model to the next-to-minimal super symmetric standard model.

He added that by sustaining the next-to-minimal super-symmetric standard model with their findings, the research on dark matter would enter a new stage — because the theory also assumed that the dark matter should be formed by super-symmetric particles. “If the Higgs bosons exist, the super-symmetric particles may also exist,” he predicted.

He said that the physicists require still more physical evidence to sustain the theory and that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project coming online in November, and the International Linear Collider (ILC) still in the planning stages, could reveal further evidence pointing to the existence of other unknown particles.

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