First on the list of exciting results at CERN for 2021 is the experimental observation of odderon exchange in elastic proton-proton and proton-antiproton interactions.
One of the lead scientists of this experiment is Dr. Georgi Antchev from the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy of BAS. He is the author of the data acquisition and processing systems and the coordinator of both the installation of these systems in the LHC tunnel and the testing and putting into operation of detectors.
Odderons (a family of virtual, color-neutral states composed of an odd number of gluons) were predicted theoretically in 1973. The TOTEM, experiment, conducted at the LHC at CERN , studies the elastic scattering of protons which yields important information about the interaction and structure of these elementary particles. In 2021, the TOTEM experiments at CERN (Switzerland) and DØ – at Fermilab (USA) reported the first experimental observation of an exchange of odderons. The discovery was the result of a model-independent analysis of proton-proton (TOTEM) and proton-antiproton (DØ) interaction data since the odderon appears differently in these two cases.
A virtual visit to the Large Hadron Collider tunnel at CERN with Dr. Georgi Antchev can be found on the website of BAS.
The experimental observation of the exchange of odderons in elastic proton-proton and proton-antiproton interactions is also the most significant scientific achievement of the Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy at BAS for 2021.
