Physicists report strongest evidence yet for the gluon-only glueball
TL;DR
A BESIII collaboration study analyzing about ten billion J/psi decays presents strong evidence that the X(2370) meson is predominantly a glueball—a bound state of gluons predicted by quantum chromodynamics. A 2024 spin-parity measurement (0−+) aligned with glueball predictions strengthens the case, though no single smoking-gun proof exists. If confirmed, this would demonstrate gluons interacting with themselves and shed light on the origin of mass in protons.
- A particle made of force: physicists say they’ve found mysterious ‘glueball’ Nature
- US and Israeli physicists hail China’s glueball discovery as a ‘triumph’ South China Morning Post
- Glueball Confirmed: Particle Made of Pure Force Closes Fifty-Year Physics Search Tech Times
- China finds first strong evidence of mysterious new matter glueball Interesting Engineering
- Scientists confirm the existence of a new form of matter voxnews.al
Want the full story? Read the original reporting
Read on Nature