"Sparticle" is a merging of the words supersymmetric and particle. Supersymmetry, one of the cutting-edge theories in current high-energy physics, predicts the existence of these "shadow" particles. According to the theory, when the more familiar leptons, photons, and quarks were produced in the Big Bang, each one was accompanied by a matching sparticle: sleptons, photinos and squarks. This state of affairs occurred at a time when the universe was undergoing rapid phase change, and theorists believe this state of affairs lasted only some ten trillionth of a ten trillionth of a nanosecond (10 e-35 seconds) before the particles we see now "condensed" out and froze into space-time. Sparticles have not existed naturally since that time. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a particle not known to have substructure; that is, it is not made up of smaller particles. ... The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. ... Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the elementary constituents of matter and radiation, and the interactions between them. ... In physics, a particle is a lepton if it has a spin of 1/2 and does not experience the strong nuclear force. ... The word light is defined here as electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength; thus, X-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet light, microwaves, radio waves, and visible light are all forms of light. ... These are the 6 quarks and their most likely decay modes. ... According to the Big Bang, the universe emerged from an extremely dense and hot state (bottom). ... In particle physics, a slepton is a hypothetical bosonic partner of a lepton whose existence is implied by supersymmetry. ... A photino is a subatomic particle, the fermion WIMP superpartner of the photon predicted by supersymmetry. ... In particle physics, a squark is a hypothetical boson partner of a quark whose existence is implied by supersymmetry. ... The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. ... In its most common usage, the term phase change indicates that a substance has changed among the three classical phases of matter: solid, liquid and gas. ... To help compare orders of magnitude of different times this page lists times between 10−9 seconds and 10−8 seconds (1 nanosecond and 10 nanoseconds) See also times of other orders of magnitude. ...

However, if theory is correct, it should be possible to recreate these particles in high-energy particle accelerators. Doing so will not be an easy task; these particles may have masses up to a thousand times greater than their corresponding "real" particles. Current colliders do not have the power to create these supermassive particles, but the Large Hadron Collider, now under construction at the CERN site in Switzerland, will be able to achieve collisions in the 14 TeV (tera-electron-volt) range, more than adequate to determine if these superpartner particles exist. A 1960s single stage 2 MeV linear Van de Graaff accelerator, here opened for maintenance A particle accelerator is a device that uses electric fields to propel electrically charged particles to high speeds and magnetic fields to contain them. ... In particle physics, a hadron is a subatomic particle which experiences the strong nuclear force. ... CERN logo The Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire (English: European Organization for Nuclear Research), commonly known as CERN, pronounced (or in French), is the worlds largest particle physics laboratory, situated just west of Geneva on the border between France and Switzerland. ...

See also

• Neutralino
• Chargino
• Gravitino
• Gluino
• Graviton
• Squark
• Slepton

In particle physics, the neutralino is a hypothetical particle and part of the doubling of the menagerie of particles predicted by supersymmetric theories. ... In particle physics, chargino refers to a charged superpartner, i. ... The gravitino is the hypothetical supersymmetric partner of the graviton, as predicted by theories combining general relativity and supersymmetry, i. ... A gluino is a subatomic particle, the fermion superpartner of the gluon predicted by supersymmetry. ... In physics, the graviton is a hypothetical elementary particle that mediates the force of gravity in the framework of quantum field theory. ... In particle physics, a squark is a hypothetical boson partner of a quark whose existence is implied by supersymmetry. ... In particle physics, a slepton is a hypothetical bosonic partner of a lepton whose existence is implied by supersymmetry. ...

External links

• Argonne National Laboratory
• Large Hadron Collider
• CERN homepage