From Smithsonian Magazine, April 9, 2021: Results from two particle physics experiments have come tantalizingly close to discovering a gap in the Standard Model.
muons
From New Scientist, April 7, 2021: The strange behavior of a fundamental particle called a muon may hint at the existence of exotic particles and forces beyond the standard model of physics.
From National Geographic, April 8, 2021: In a landmark experiment, a collaboration of scientists led by Fermilab has found fresh evidence that a subatomic particle is disobeying one of science’s most watertight theories, the Standard Model of particle physics.
From the Associated Press, April 7, 2021: Fermilab announced results Wednesday of 8.2 billion races along a track that have physicists astir: The muons’ magnetic fields don’t seem to be what the Standard Model says they should be.
The first results from the Muon g-2 experiment hosted at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory show fundamental particles called muons behaving in a way not predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. These results confirm an earlier experiment of the same name performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Combined, the two results show strong evidence that our best theoretical model of the subatomic world is incomplete. One potential explanation would be the existence of undiscovered particles or forces.
From China Science News, Yunnan.cn (China), April 1, 2021: The Muon g-2 experiment conducted at the Fermilab will soon announce the results after 20 years of waiting.
A super-precise experiment at Fermilab is carefully analyzing every detail of the muon’s magnetic moment. The Fermilab Muon g-2 collaboration has announced it will present its first result at 10 a.m. CDT on April 7.
From BBC, March 25. 2021: Physicists have uncovered a potential flaw in a theory that explains how the building blocks of the Universe behave.
From Scientific American, March 25, 2021: Physicists have long wondered if muons, electrons and other leptons possess differences besides their mass; the latest LHCb result; Fermilab and the upcoming results of Muon g-2 test the standard model.
An experiment that will contribute vital knowledge about something deceptively simple – a proton’s spin – will soon come online at Fermilab. The experiment may either begin to validate the “potato salad” model of proton spin or force scientists to develop a new model entirely.