Scientific American
Surprising new data from the Muon g-2 experiment are turning the classical model on its head
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In April a team of physicists at Fermi National Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., announced anomalous behavior in the magnetic wiggle of the muon. The signal suggests that there may be other forces at work affecting the particle’s behavior besides those predicted by the Standard Model of physics (see “Long-Awaited Muon Measurement Boosts Evidence for New Physics”). But as physicist Sabine Hossenfelder outlines in her fascinating analysis of this finding, whether or not this discovery upends the classical rules depends on mind-bending statistics and higher-level calculations aided by computers to determine whether we have seen something significant or are merely observing a number- crunching fluke (see “Is the Standard Model of Physics Now Broken?”).
Fermilab researchers have spotted a wobble in the movement of a tiny particle
This and abnormalities seen by CERN suggest issues with the Standard Model
Leading physicist Michio Kaku says abnormalities have been long expected
Any tiny change could leave open the door to finding a new universal theory
A goal of Einstein during his lifetime, it would unite all four forces of nature into a simple, single inch long theory that Kaku dubbed the God Equation
Tantalizing results from Muon g-2 experiment contradicts how physicists think the universe works dailymail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Scientific American
Is the Standard Model of Physics Now Broken?
The discrepancy between the theoretical prediction and the experimentally determined value of the muon s magnetic moment has become slightly stronger with a new result from Fermilab. But what does it mean?
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The Muon g-2 magnetic storage ring, seen here during its relocation from Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island to the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory outside Chicago, is a central component of the project s quest for new physics. Credit: Alamy
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The so-called muon anomaly, first seen in an experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2001, hasn’t budged. For 20 years, this slight discrepancy between the calculated value of the muon’s magnetic moment and its experimentally determined one has lingered at a significance of about 3.7 sigma. That is a confidence level of 99.98 percent, or about a one-in-4,500 chance the discrepancy is a random fluctuation. With the just announce
Long-Awaited Muon Measurement Boosts Evidence for New Physics
Initial data from the Muon g-2 experiment have excited particle physicists searching for undiscovered subatomic particles and forces
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The muon g-2 magnetic storage ring, seen here at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York before its 2013 relocation to Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois. Credit: Alamy
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When hundreds of physicists gathered on a Zoom call in late February to discuss their experiment’s results, none of them knew what they had found. Like doctors in a clinical trial, the researchers at the Muon g-2 experiment blinded their data, concealing a single variable that prevented them from being biased about or knowing for years what the information they were working with actually meant.