CDF

Recently, scientists have determined the mass of the W boson by analyzing more than 1 billion proton-colliding events produced by the LHC at CERN. The precision of the new measurement is on par with a previous measurement made in 2022 by the CDF at Fermilab.

A 2022 measurement of the W boson’s mass by the CDF experiment at the Fermilab, while the most precise measurement, differed from the Standard Model prediction. Now, a new calculation of the W boson particle by the CMS collaboration agrees with the Standard Model.

In 2022, the CDF experiment at Fermilab measured the W boson mass and found a challenge in the predictions of physics. However, the LHC measurement of the mass of the W boson found the exact expected value. What now?

On March 2, 1995, the top quark discovery at Fermilab was announced by scientists on the CDF and DZero collaborations, and the sixth and final quark was added to the Standard Model. We ask two members of the collaborations to reflect on this groundbreaking moment in particle physics.

Two experiments measuring the W boson have two different results. The lead analyzer of the CDF experiment discusses the differing results and what’s next for the W boson measurements.

This year there were many major advances in our understanding of the Universe, including in the areas of particle physics and astrophysics. Included in this line-up are stories from DESI, LHC, The James Webb Space Telescope and more.

The CDF experiment at Fermilab measured the mass of the W boson and came up with an answer that no one expected.

From Popular Mechanics, April 9, 2022: New research shows the W boson is heavier than scientists expected with the discovery going against the Standard Model of particle physics. Recently, a 400-person team announced the results of data they carefully sifted through of more than four million collisions from the Collider Detector at Fermilab.

From AZO Quantum, April 11, 2022: The W boson, one of nature’s force-carrying particles, has been detected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) team, which includes 400 scientists from across the world.

From the BBC, April 7, 2022: Scientists of the CDF collaboration have found a tiny difference in the mass of the W Boson compared with what the theory says it should be – just 0.1%. If confirmed by other experiments, the implications could be enormous and could challenge the Standard Model of particle physics.