penguins Be mesons

penguin diagram

The experiment picks out B mesons produced when electrons and positrons annihilate. A B meson contains two quarks, one of which is a heavy ‘bottom’ or b quark. When the B-meson decays, the b quark can be transformed into another variety of quark, such as a strange (s) quark. In the decay process studied by the collaboration, the s quark becomes part of a kaon (K), and a pair of oppositely charged leptons (l), which may be electrons or muons, are also produced. This interaction is known as a ‘penguin’ process, as its Feynman diagram can be drawn to resemble a penguin (see illustration).
Nature – Penguin picked up

So now we know..

but what about that elephant?

About caspar

Caspar is just one monkey among billions. Battering his keyboard without expectations even of peanuts, let alone of aping the Immortal Bard. By day he is an infantologist at Birkbeck Babylab, by night he runs BabyLaughter.net
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