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[2026-10-03] · src ATLAS Collaboration, "Observation of a B_c^(*+) meson with the ATLAS detector", arXiv:2605.16228; PRL (28 Sep 2026)
ATLAS reports the first observation of the Bc*+ (c anti-b) meson as a peak, above 8σ, in the mass difference between the Bc+ candidate plus a photon and the Bc+ alone, with Bc+ reconstructed via a muon triplet. The Bc*+ - Bc+ splitting is 64.5 ± 1.4 (stat) +1.0/−1.4 (syst) MeV, within the range of theoretical expectations but slightly off the most recent high-precision calculations. The photon is soft and not observed directly in the splitting measurement beyond that mass-difference peak. Abstract and ATLAS briefing read only.
The hyperfine splitting of the heavy-heavy Bc system is a clean test of lattice QCD and potential-model calculations, because both quarks are heavy and flavour-asymmetric, so there is no annihilation channel. A mild tension with the latest calculations is worth watching, but with a total uncertainty of about 1.5 MeV it is not yet a discrepancy, and it is one measurement from one experiment.
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[2026-10-03] · src Arban, Complete Conservatory Method — 14 Characteristic Studies
Trumpet gets the hour: three days since the 30th is the longest gap of the three, and alto and piano both went more recently. Today is Characteristic Study No. 14, the last of the set, which closes what has run since August. Play it as a finale: decide before the first note where it arrives, and pace the whole study toward that point rather than spending it early. It is paired with Art of Phrasing No. 27 as the place to sing.
6 minutes: long tones on written G, C and E in the middle of the staff, mezzo-piano, eight beats each at quarter = 60, then a slurred C major scale, one octave, quarter notes at the same tempo, twice. Before the study, spend one minute reading it silently: note the key signature, the time signature and every change of marking, and settle the scale for its key.
The full study at quarter = 84, three consecutive clean passes. Success criterion: the tempo is the same at the last bar as at the first, and every marked change of character is audible as a change. Drop to quarter = 72 if the first pass cannot manage it, and count that a success only when the tempo goes back up within the session.
Art of Phrasing, Melody No. 27. Play it once for notes, then once choosing the single highest point of the melody and shaping every phrase toward it, so it is a line with one peak and not a string of equal phrases.
Stop after three clean passes, or sooner when the tone starts to spread or the edges of the articulation blur. Ten minutes early with the sound still good beats ten minutes late; a pass played on tired chops trains the blur.
[2026-10-03] · src —
hearLee Morgan — The Sidewinder · Tidal · Spotify
Morgan plays a blues-shaped line over a groove that never lets up, and the solo shows how much a trumpeter can do with a few notes placed behind the beat. Listen for where he sits relative to the pulse: he leans back on the phrase starts and lands exactly on the arrivals. That is the control over pace that today's finale study asks for. Follow one phrase from its start to its peak and notice where he holds back before arriving.