B meson

noun

: any of a class of short-lived mesons that are thought to be a combination of one bottom antiquark and either an up, down, or strange quark

Note: B mesons are primarily useful for theoretical purposes, such as verifying proposed models that explain the natural laws of the universe.

Since then, independent teams … have been colliding tens of millions of electrons and their antimatter counterparts, positrons, looking for firm evidence of B meson CP violation.Peter Weiss, Science News, 3 Mar. 2001
Answering that question has become The Next Big Thing in high-energy physics, and the quest is focusing on a short-lived, formerly obscure particle called the B meson that is produced in particle collisions.Curt Suplee, Washington Post, 13 Oct. 1997

Word History

First Known Use

1977, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of B meson was in 1977

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Cite this Entry

“B meson.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/B%20meson. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

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