New evidence of particles could change the way we understand the universe
By Seth Borenstein article
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory(Fermilab) and Robert R. Wilson s Acqua Alle Funi sculpture, in Batavia, Illinois on MAY 12, 2013. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
Preliminary results from two experiments suggest something could be wrong with the basic way physicists think the universe works, a prospect that has the field of particle physics both baffled and thrilled.
Tiny particles called muons aren’t quite doing what is expected of them in two different long-running experiments in the United States and Europe. The confounding results if proven right reveal major problems with the rulebook physicists use to describe and understand how the universe works at the subatomic level.
Preliminary results from two experiments suggest something could be wrong with the basic way physicists think the universe works, a prospect that has the field of particle physics both baffled and thrilled.
Tiny particles called muons aren’t quite doing what is expected of them in two different long-running experiments in the United States and Europe. The confounding results if proven right reveal major problems with the rulebook physicists use to describe and understand how the universe works at the subatomic level.
“We think we might be swimming in a sea of background particles all the time that just haven’t been directly discovered,” Fermilab experiment co-chief scientist Chris Polly said in a press conference. “There might be monsters we haven’t yet imagined that are emerging from the vacuum interacting with our muons and this gives us a window into seeing them.”
Preliminary results from an international science experiment this week sent shock waves through the world of physics, and it s all due to a tiny particle s surprising wobble.
Scientists have spent decades trying to get a closer look at muons subatomic particles that blip in and out of existence in a matter of microseconds. On Wednesday, scientists at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, revealed evidence that muons wobble in a way that goes against the longstanding Standard Model of particle physics.
The extra motion could be the fingerprint of something unknown to science. There might be monsters we haven t yet imagined that are emerging from the vacuum, interacting with our muons, and this gives us a window into seeing them, said the experiment s co-chief scientist, Chris Polly.
Seth Borenstein
Preliminary results from two experiments suggest something could be wrong with the basic way physicists think the universe works, a prospect that has the field of particle physics both baffled and thrilled.
Tiny particles called muons aren’t quite doing what is expected of them in two different long-running experiments in the United States and Europe. The confounding results if proven right reveal major problems with the rulebook physicists use to describe and understand how the universe works at the subatomic level.
“We think we might be swimming in a sea of background particles all the time that just haven’t been directly discovered,” Fermilab experiment co-chief scientist Chris Polly said in a press conference. “There might be monsters we haven’t yet imagined that are emerging from the vacuum interacting with our muons and this gives us a window into seeing them.”