LHCb detects rare beauty quark decay to muons for first time
Physicists at CERN's upgraded LHCb experiment observed the first evidence for a rare decay of beauty quarks into muons, occurring in only one of every ten billion beauty particles. Dr Harry Cliff from the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory led the analysis team. The signal reached 3.2 sigma statistical significance, exceeding the three sigma threshold for evidence of a new phenomenon. The results, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, were presented on 3 November 2024 and agree with Standard Model predictions.