^{Credit: Nature}

^{By Amal Pushp, Affiliate Physicist at Resonance Science Foundation}

The standard model of particle physics is currently the best theory out there describing the fundamental constituents of nature. The model accurately describes the basic forces and their interactions with gravity being the only exception.

Despite the successes that the model boasts of, there are certain shortcomings of the theory that scientists around the world are trying to address and resolve. One of the key motivations is to find out the foundational building blocks of the so called Dark matter and Dark Energy which are believed to be made up of new unknown and undiscovered particles.

Recently, an interdisciplinary team of scientists led by physicists from Boston college in the US announced that they have discovered a new particle – or previously undetectable quantum excitation – known as the axial Higgs mode, a magnetic relative of the Higgs boson.

“The detection a decade ago...