Prepare to delve into the realm of particle physics, where new findings are challenging our understanding of the universe. Brace yourself for a journey that might just shatter the known laws of physics as we know them.
Evidence is mounting that a tiny subatomic particle called a muon is disobeying laws of physics as we thought we knew them
The best explanation, physicists say, involves forms of matter and energy not currently known to science.
- This could eventually lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of the universe more dramatic than the discovery of the Higgs boson, a particle that imbues other particles with mass.
Another group, using a different technique known as a lattice calculation, concluded that there was no discrepancy between the Brookhaven measurement and the Standard Model.
The Fermilab had to accommodate another wrinkle. To avoid human bias – and to prevent any fudging – the experimenters engaged in a practice, called blinding, that is common to big experiments.
The second was that the results from Fermilab matched the previous results from Brookhaven
The muons, they found, were wobbling faster than expected, by a little less than three parts in a billion
- This was great news to the physicists who had worried that the Brookhaven result was an anomaly that would evaporate with more data.
The value of g they obtained disagreed with the Standard Model’s prediction by enough to excite the imaginations of physicists, but without enough certainty to claim a solid discovery.
Moreover, in a measure of how hard this work is, experts could not agree on the Standard model’s exact prediction, further muddying hopeful waters.
And what will they find when they break it?
The muon anomaly has given physicists new ideas for how to search for new particles.
- Among the prospective candidates were particles lightweight enough to be within the grasp of the Large Hadron Collider or its projected successor.
A new campus devoted to muons was being built at Fermilab
Replacing the Tevatron, which was being replaced by CERN’s Large Hadron Collider
- This meant that Dr. Polly could redo the g-2 experiment there, this time with more precision
- In order to do the experiment, however, they needed the 50-foot magnet racetrack from Brookhaven.
- The magnet went on a 3,200-mile odyssey, mostly by barge, down the Eastern Seaboard, around Florida and up the Mississippi River, then by truck across Illinois to Batavia, where it was driven south at 10 mph.
