Young scientist receives acclamation on research work

The research work carried out by a young Pakistani particle physicist Jamil Aslam with the collaboration of two other physicists Ahmed Ali and Christian Hambrock received acclamation from the physics community as its results may lead to the discovery of a “new form of matter”.

Jamil Aslam is a faculty member of Physics Department at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) while Ahmed Ali and Christian Hambrock are working in Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY), the biggest German research center for particle physics.

Jamil Aslam visited DESY for three months (June 2009-August 2009) and worked with a team of physicists led by Dr. Ahmed Ali. The team analyzed the data collected by the KEK particle collider in Japan during an experiment known as Belle and claimed the discovery of tetraquark particles that consist of four quarks instead of the usual two (quark-antiquark) and three quark ones. A quark is an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter.

“Though it is not conclusive, however, the analysis made in paper supports the evidence of tetraquarks and if it is proved in Belle experiments, scheduled for later this year, it will introduce a new form of matter,” said a member of the team.

Both Dr. Jamil Aslam and Dr. Ahmed Ali are PhDs from the Physics Department of QAU and students of a prominent Pakistani theoretical physicist and eminent scientist Professor Dr. Riazuddin.

Commenting on the work of his ex-students Riazuddin remarked that the work is highly significant in its ability to explain certain anomalies in the experiments that could not be explained within the framework of the standard quark theories. “The tetraquark model if confirmed would imply the existence of exotic states of fundamental particles,” he said.

The research work done by the group was published in Physical Review Letters, a well reputed physics journal, and has been selected for special mention in notable journals of science including Institute of Physics (IoP), Physics Today and New Scientist.

QAU Vice Chancellor Dr. Masoom Yasinzai visited the Physics laboratory and appreciated the efforts and work of young physicists particularly.

While addressing the faculty members he underlined the need for promotion of need-based research with a specific relevance to the local problems. He said University-Industry linkage is vital for socio-economic uplift of the country.