Omega baryon

"Omega particle" redirects here. For usage of the term in Star Trek, see The Omega Directive.

Not to be confused with Omega meson.

Omega baryons (often called simply Omega particles) are a family of subatomic hadrons which are represented by the symbol
Ω
and are either charge neutral or have a +2, +1 or −1 elementary charge. Additionally, they contain no up or down quarks.^[1] Omega baryons containing top quarks are also not expected to be observed. This is because the Standard Model predicts the mean lifetime of top quarks to be roughly 5×10⁻²⁵ s,^[2] which is about a twentieth of the timescale necessary for the strong interactions required for Hadronization, the process by which hadrons form from quarks and gluons .

Bubble chamber trace of the first observed Ω baryon event at Brookhaven National Laboratory, adapted from original tracing. The tracks of neutral particles (dashed lines) are not visible in the bubble chamber. The collision of a K⁻ meson with a proton creates an Ω⁻, a K⁰ and a K⁺. The Ω⁻ decays into a π⁻ and a Ξ⁰, which in turn decays into a Λ⁰ and a π⁰. The Λ⁰ decays into a proton and a π⁻. The π⁰, invisible due to its short lifetime, decays into two photons (γ), which in turn each create an electron-positron pair.

The first omega baryon was the
Ω⁻
, it was made of three strange quarks, and was discovered in 1964.^[3] The discovery was a great triumph in the study of quarks, since it was found only after its existence, mass, and decay products had been predicted in 1961 by the American physicist Murray Gell-Mann and, independently, by the Israeli physicist Yuval Ne'eman. Besides the
Ω⁻
, a charmed omega particle (
Ω⁰
_c) was discovered in 1985, in which a strange quark is replaced by a charm quark. The
Ω⁻
decays only via the weak interaction and has therefore a relatively long lifetime.^[4] Spin (J) and parity (P) values for unobserved baryons are predicted by the quark model.^[5]

Since omega baryons do not have any up or down quarks, they all have isospin 0.

Omega baryons

Quark structure of omega baryon (
Ω⁻
)

Omega

Particle	Symbol	Quark content	Rest mass (MeV/c2)	JP	Q (e)	S	C	B'	Mean lifetime (s)	Decays to
Omega[6]	Ω−	s s s	1672.45±0.29	⁠3/2⁠+	−1	−3	0	0	(8.21±0.11)×10−11	Λ0 + K− or Ξ0 + π− or Ξ− + π0
Charmed omega[7]	Ω0 c	s s c	2697.5±2.6	⁠1/2⁠+	0	−2	+1	0	(268±24)×10−15	See Ω0 c Decay Modes
Bottom omega[8]	Ω− b	s s b	6054.4±6.8	⁠1/2⁠+	−1	−2	0	−1	(1.13±0.53)×10−12	Ω− + J/ψ (seen)
Double charmed omega†	Ω+ cc	s c c		⁠1/2⁠+	+1	−1	+2	0
Charmed bottom omega†	Ω0 cb	s c b		⁠1/2⁠+	0	−1	+1	−1
Double bottom omega†	Ω− bb	s b b		⁠1/2⁠+	−1	−1	0	−2
Triple charmed omega†	Ω++ ccc	c c c		⁠3/2⁠+	+2	0	+3	0
Double charmed bottom omega†	Ω+ ccb	c c b		⁠1/2⁠+	+1	0	+2	−1
Charmed double bottom omega†	Ω0 cbb	c b b		⁠1/2⁠+	0	0	+1	−2
Triple bottom omega†	Ω− bbb	b b b		⁠3/2⁠+	−1	0	0	−3

† Particle (or quantity, i.e. spin) has neither been observed nor indicated.

Recent discoveries

The
Ω⁻
_b particle is a "doubly strange" baryon containing two strange quarks and a bottom quark. A discovery of this particle was first claimed in September 2008 by physicists working on the DØ experiment at the Tevatron facility of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.^[9][10] However, the reported mass of 6165±16 MeV/c² was significantly higher than expected in the quark model. The apparent discrepancy from the Standard Model has since been dubbed the "
Ω
_b puzzle". In May 2009, the CDF collaboration made public their results on the search for the
Ω⁻
_b based on analysis of a data sample roughly four times the size of the one used by the DØ experiment.^[8] CDF measured the mass to be 6054.4±6.8 MeV/c², which was in excellent agreement with the Standard Model prediction. No signal has been observed at the DØ reported value. The two results differ by 111±18 MeV/c², which is equivalent to 6.2 standard deviations and are therefore inconsistent. Excellent agreement between the CDF measured mass and theoretical expectations is a strong indication that the particle discovered by CDF is indeed the
Ω⁻
_b. In February 2013 the LHCb collaboration published a measurement of the
Ω⁻
_b mass that is consistent with, but more precise than, the CDF result.^[11]

In March 2017, the LHCb collaboration announced the observation of five new narrow
Ω⁰
_c states decaying to
Ξ⁺
_c
K⁻
, where the
Ξ⁺
_c was reconstructed in the decay mode
p

K⁻

π⁺
.^[12][13] The states are named
Ω
_c(3000)⁰,
Ω
_c(3050)⁰,
Ω
_c(3066)⁰,
Ω
_c(3090)⁰ and
Ω
_c(3119)⁰. Their masses and widths were reported, but their quantum numbers could not be determined due to the large background present in the sample.

See also

• Delta baryon
• Hyperon
• Lambda baryon
• List of mesons
• List of particles
• Nucleon
• Physics portal
• Sigma baryon
• Timeline of particle discoveries
• Xi baryon

References

1. Particle Data Group. "2010 Review of Particle Physics – Naming scheme for hadrons" (PDF). Retrieved 26 December 2011.
2. A. Quadt (2006). "Top quark physics at hadron colliders". European Physical Journal C. 48 (3): 835–1000. Bibcode:2006EPJC...48..835Q. doi:10.1140/epjc/s2006-02631-6. S2CID 121887478.
3. V. E. Barnes; et al. (1964). "Observation of a Hyperon with Strangeness Minus Three" (PDF). Physical Review Letters. 12 (8): 204. Bibcode:1964PhRvL..12..204B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.12.204. OSTI 12491965.
4. R. Nave. "The Omega baryon". HyperPhysics. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
5. Körner, J.G; Krämer, M; Pirjol, D (1 January 1994). "Heavy baryons". Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics. 33: 787–868. arXiv:hep-ph/9406359. Bibcode:1994PrPNP..33..787K. doi:10.1016/0146-6410(94)90053-1. S2CID 118931787.
6. Particle Data Group. "2006 Review of Particle Physics –
   Ω⁻
   " (PDF). Retrieved 20 April 2008.
7. Particle Data Group. "
   Ω⁰
   _c listing –
   Ω⁰
   _c" (PDF). Retrieved 13 August 2018.
8. T. Aaltonen et al. (CDF Collaboration) (2009). "Observation of the
   Ω⁻
   _b and Measurement of the Properties of the
   Ξ⁻
   _b and
   Ω⁻
   _b". Physical Review D. 80 (7): 072003. arXiv:0905.3123. Bibcode:2009PhRvD..80g2003A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.80.072003. hdl:1721.1/52706. S2CID 54189461.
9. "Fermilab physicists discover "doubly strange" particle". Fermilab. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
10. V. Abazov et al. (DØ Collaboration) (2008). "Observation of the doubly strange b baryon
    Ω⁻
    _b". Physical Review Letters. 101 (23): 232002. arXiv:0808.4142. Bibcode:2008PhRvL.101w2002A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.232002. PMID 19113541. S2CID 30481085.
11. R. Aaij et al. (LHCb collaboration) (2013). "Measurement of the
    Λ⁰
    _b,
    Ξ⁻
    _b and
    Ω⁻
    _b baryon masses". Physical Review Letters. 110 (18): 182001. arXiv:1302.1072. Bibcode:2013PhRvL.110r2001A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.182001. PMID 23683191. S2CID 22966047.
12. "LHCb observes an exceptionally large group of particles". CERN.
13. R. Aaij et al. (LHCb collaboration) (2017). "Observation of five new narrow
    Ω⁰
    _c states decaying to
    Ξ⁺
    _c
    K⁻
    ". Physical Review Letters. 11801 (2017): 182001. arXiv:1703.04639. Bibcode:2017PhRvL.118r2001A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.182001. PMID 28524669. S2CID 610517.

External links

• Picture of the first event containing the
  Ω⁻
  , which happens to contain the complete decay chain of the
  Ω⁻
  .
• Science Daily – Discovery of the
  Ω⁻
  _b
• Strangeness Minus Three - BBC Horizon 1964