Trapping molecules to find new physics

The Standard Model of particle physics has been extremely successful in describing how the universe works. However, there are some things that it cannot explain. Physicists have, therefore, been looking for new physics in particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. At the University of Groningen, a different approach has been used: in contrast to smashing up matter at high energies, physicists wanted to study molecules that are brought to rest. These physicists set a new record by stopping molecules of strontium fluoride, using an electronic trap. Their results were published on 21 October in Physical Review Letters.