Four Tops at ATLAS!

ATLAS has announced results on searches for events that involve the creation of FOUR top quarks. The top quark is the heaviest of the fundamental particles, each weighing about the same as a gold atom. Heavy particles decay quickly, and noisily, so it's difficult measurement to make.

ATLAS reported 4.3-sigma evidence based on their reanalysis of the 13-TeV dataset from the second run of the LHC. Previously CMS and ATLAS both reported evidence for four tops below the 3-sigma level.

Just like our previous discussion of b-decays, four top quark events are expected to be enhanced by some theoretical models of new physics, so it's an important measurement to keep an eye on as the LHC ramps up for run 3.