A hyperon is a classification of sub-atomic particle, defined as a baryonic (and hence hadronic) fermion with non-zero strangeness.

Properties and behaviour of hyperons

All hyperons have half-integer spin and obey Fermi-Dirac statistics - and so they are all fermions. They all interact with the strong nuclear force, making them types of hadron. They are composed of three quarks, at least one of which is a strange quark, which makes them effectively strange baryons. Hyperons decay into a proton, neutron or meson in 10^-10 to 10^-8 seconds. If they decay into a neutron, this further decays into a proton.

Hyperon research

The first research into hyperons happened in the 1950s, and spurred physicists on to the creation of an organised classification of particles. Today, most research is conducted at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois using particle accelerators. Much of the research is done to test for CP violation by means of the 'HyperCP ' experiments, which seek to measure the differences in the time for the decay of hyperons and their anti-matter counterparts, anti-hyperons .

See also

• Baryons
• CP-symmetry
• Particle physics