Physicists have improved the statistical accuracy of the famous “mass transfer” rate by reconciling the results of years of proton crashes at two different detectors at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) Large Hadron Collider (LHC). the particle decayed into a photon and a Z-boson.

The results, announced at the LHC physics conference in Belgrade last week, lag far behind what could be considered important. But the process itself can be refined to hone the bubble and bubbling of quantum recipes and help determine where new exotic powers and building blocks might exist. The Higgs boson became a favorite in the physics world when its existence was proved by CERN’s ATLAS (or “Toroidal LHC Apparatus”) and CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) detectors in 2012.

It was not the last entry in the large particle map (Standard Model) to be experimentally validated; For the most part, the knowledge of the existence of the Higgs particle and its associated field means we now understand why elementary particles have mass.

Since energy and mass are different ways of describing the same species, the effort required to hold large, large objects (such as atoms, molecules, and elephants) together accounts for a significant portion of the object’s mass. On a smaller scale, the effort required to break the Higgs field of more fundamental objects such as electrons or quarks explains why particles such as photons have a resting mass.

However, the coherent nature of the field and the bubbling foam of its bosons make it an ideal candidate for searching for signs of hypothetical quantum fields and related particles that often do not manifest themselves in more obvious ways.

“Every particle has a special bond to the Higgs boson, so investigating rare Higgs decays is a priority,” says Pamela Ferrari, Physics Coordinator of the CERN ATLAS experiment.

Decaying a particle is like a pigeon dying between skyscrapers – it happens all the time, usually in different ways, but you’ll be lucky if you catch more than a few drifting feathers as proof of their passage.

Fortunately, by counting all these “hairs” in the collider’s dust, physicists can paint a picture of the way particles break apart and quickly turn into new things. Some of these decays are relatively common, but the conversion of a Higgs particle to a photon and a short radius weak nuclear force Z boson is about a one-thousandth event. Or about 0.15 percent of all Higgs decays, as textbooks predict.

But this is exactly what we should expect from the Standard Model. As surprisingly insightful as this grand theory is, we know it will collapse at some point, given that dark energy has little to say about stretching space or the gravitational-like bending of space-time.

Any deviation from this figure can be used to support alternative models, which may leave enough room to fit the distasteful facts. Knowing how to develop the best physics model we’ve ever had means finding a number of currently unexplained anomalies. Like exotic fields and particles that perform subtle and rare actions that we don’t normally notice.

“The presence of new particles can have a very significant effect on rare modes of Higgs decay,” says Florencia Canelli, physics coordinator of CERN’s other detector, CMS.

For now, these elusive unicorn pieces are as legendary as ever. Results so far are roughly in the range of Standard Model estimates.

Still, there is enough data for physicists to be partially sure of the accuracy of the results. Larger studies, perhaps using better techniques, could reveal small differences and hide a large window into a whole new set of theories.

“This study is a powerful test of the Standard Model,” Canelli says. “Thanks to the LHC’s current third launch and the upcoming High Luminance LHC, we will be able to increase the sensitivity of this test and investigate increasingly rare Higgs decays.”