# Particle Physicists Are Getting a First Glimpse Into the ‘Zeptoverse’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/particle-physicists-are-getting-a-first-glimpse-into-the-zeptoverse/
- Published: 2026-11-05T10:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T11:53:53+00:00
- Original publisher: Wired
- Original article: https://www.wired.com/story/particle-physicists-are-getting-a-first-glimpse-into-the-zeptoverse/
- Topics: Software

## Key points

- CERN has found first evidence of a highly rare particle decay.
- The standard model predicts it occurs once per 10 billion decays.
- Future measurements could probe physics at zeptometer scales.

## Summary

CERN scientists have found evidence of an exceptionally rare decay in which a neutral B meson transforms into a muon and an antimuon. The result marks the first experimental evidence of a process physicists have sought for more than 40 years, and gives them a precise way to test whether the standard model describes matter at extremely small scales.

The standard model predicts this decay happens about once in every 10 billion neutral B meson decays, making it difficult to distinguish from other collision events. Faster data collection following a 2024 upgrade to the Large Hadron Collider, combined with machine-learning methods to filter background signals, helped researchers identify it. The finding agrees with current predictions; further measurements could point to new physics in the “zeptoverse”, where distances are measured in zeptometers.

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