Vietnam makes breakthroughs in high-energy physics research and affirms its position in the world's leading international experiments

High-energy physics is regarded as a fundamental field of research that plays a central role in uncovering the basic laws of nature. Its primary objective is to test the Standard Model—the most successful theory to date for explaining the structure of and interactions among the fundamental particles that make up matter—while also searching for evidence of new physical phenomena beyond the current theoretical framework.

With this objective, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) launched the independent research project entitled "High-Energy Physics Research through Selected International Experiments in Japan" (Project Code: DL0000.02/24-25), led by Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Anh Ky of the Institute of Physics, for implementation during the 2024–2026 period.

Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Anh Ky at the Belle II experiment control room

National flags of countries participating in the Belle II experiment

After more than two years of implementation, the project has produced results well beyond initial expectations, with the research team publishing 64 papers in prestigious scientific journals.

At the Belle II experiment, the team contributed to the observation of the extremely rare decay of the B meson with a statistical significance of 3.5 sigma. In addition to data analysis, Vietnamese scientists directly participated in the construction, operation and calibration of the Central Drift Chamber (CDC), one of Belle II's most important detector systems, which records and reconstructs the trajectories of charged particles with extremely high precision.

Dong Van Thanh (second from left), a member of the Vietnamese research team at Belle II, with colleagues after installing the Central Drift Chamber (CDC)

Through their direct involvement in the construction, operation and calibration of equipment for the Belle II and T2K experiments, Vietnamese scientists have gradually mastered a range of advanced technologies, including particle detector design and operation, simulation software development, big data processing and high-performance computing.

The T2K-Vietnam team (from left: Dr Cao Van Son, Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Thi Hong Van, Dr Nguyen Thi Dung and MSc Phan To Quyen) at the Super-Kamiokande detector, beside one of approximately 13,000 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), which are used to detect particle signals