They measured quark mixing through superallowed nuclear beta decay, a highly precise and fast type of beta decay where a proton in one nucleus changes into a neutron (or vice versa) without ...

Beta (\(\beta^-\)) decay is the release of an electron by the change of a neutron to a proton. The neutron (charge = 0) is made up of one up quark (charge = \(\frac{2}{3}\)) and two down quarks ...

for example switching a down quark to an up quark or vice versa in beta decay. It sounds quirky, but it is far from irrelevant: only the action of the weak force changing protons into neutrons ...

or their decay products, sail out freely to be counted by RHIC's detectors. But if the collisions do form a QGP, the kicked-free quark or gluon, despite its energy, gets caught up in interactions ...

Beta decay involves the conversion of a down quark to an up quark. This changes a neutron into a proton plus an electron. The proton stays in the nucleus and the electron leaves the atom with high ...