The results of one of the most anticipated experiments in particle physics are now available and could be about to reach a milestone in science because, perhaps, perhaps, they could break physics as we know it, because there is every time more evidence that a tiny subatomic particle, the muon, does not behave as it should. It contradicts the laws of known physics and the Fermilab conclusions have confirmed this again after confirming that muons, unstable and massive, are more magnetic than they should be.
These fundamental particles (‘ cousins’ of electrons but 200 times heavier and radioactively unstable ) do not behave in the way predicted by our best theory, the Standard Model of particle physics.
The description of the Standard Model remains woefully incomplete
The experiment measures how strong the internal magnetism of the muon really is, something for which we have a clear prediction from the theory. The Fermilab experiment – which lasted approximately three years, analyzing 8 billion muons – found that the measured value of the muon’s magnetic moment is different from the one theorized. These findings have reached the 4.2 sigma threshold of uncertainty, close to the certainty level of the “gold standard” in the 5 sigma scientific evidence , which is almost a certainty, but … not quite. These data still represent that there is a 3 in 100,000 chance that this is a fluke.
While it has yet to be fully confirmed, this finding is the strongest evidence yet that not only does physics exist unknown to us, but we know of an excellent place to start looking for it, which of course is incredibly exciting. .
When CERN’s gigantic accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), was turned on ten years ago, hopes abounded that new particles would soon be discovered that could help us unravel the deepest mysteries of physics and make the hearts of others beat. physicists and amateurs a little faster.
Shaking the foundations of science
After analyzing trillions of collisions in the past decade, we may be seeing evidence for something entirely new, potentially the carrier of a new force of nature. Among other things, it ignores gravity and is ‘silent’ about the nature of dark matter, dark energy, and neutrino masses.
The muon wobbles, therefore, much more than theory predicts it should. The best explanation, according to physicists, is that the muon is being pushed by types of matter and energy completely unknown to physics. If the results are true, the discovery represents a breakthrough in particle physics of a kind not seen in 50 years, when the dominant theory to explain subatomic particles was first developed.
“Today is an extraordinary day, highly anticipated not only by us but by the entire international physics community ,” said Graziano Venanzoni, co-spokesperson for the Muon g-2 experiment and a physicist at the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics, in a statement.
In essence, physicists will not be able to say conclusively whether the new particles are pulling on their muons until they can agree on exactly how the 17 existing particles of the Standard Model also interact with the muons. Until a theory wins, physics, as we know it, will be on the line.
