Scientists working at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, have made some of the most important discoveries in physics over the years, including the existence of top quarks and the characterization of neutrinos. Now, the team working on Fermilab’s Muon g-2 experiment has reported puzzling clues about a new type of physics, according to BBC. If confirmed, this would be the fifth known fundamental force in the universe.
Our current understanding of particle physics is called the Standard Model, which we know is an incomplete picture of the universe. Concepts like the Higgs boson and dark energy are not fully integrated into the Standard Model, and Muon g 2 may ultimately help us understand why. The key to this penetration may be the behavior of muons, subatomic particles similar to electrons. Muons have a negative charge, but are much larger. So, it rotates like a magnet, which suggests a possible new branch of physics.
The Muon g 2 experiment has its roots in work done at CERN in the late 1950s. However, the tools available at the time were so imprecise that the muon ‘g-factor’, which describes the rate of rotation, could not be accurately measured. The Standard Model predicts that the muons sway in a certain way, but the 14 meter long magnetic accelerator in the Muon g – 2 core shows that the muon has a G factor. It may not seem important, but even “anomalous magnetic dipole moment,” as scientists suggest. call it, can indicate something mysterious that affects particles.
600T G-2 magnet before installation.
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Today we recognize four basic forces: gravity, electromagnetism, the strong force (nuclear coherence), and the weak force (radioactive decay). Anything that causes the muon to behave badly in the Muon g – 2 could be the fifth style, but we don’t know what it is. Even if the team can confirm the results, we don’t necessarily know what these new natural forces are doing other than muon disturbance. This part will require a lot of work. Theoretical physicists have speculated that the new force could be attributed to undetectable subatomic particles such as Z-prime bosons or leptoquarks.
The focus now is to improve the accuracy of the experiment. New results are reported with a 4.1 sigma statistical confidence, which results in a 1 in 40,000 probability that the result is simply a statistical disturbance. Traditionally, scientists have wanted to look at 5 sigma (about 1 in 3.5 million) beliefs before mentioning anything definite. This is something physicists will be talking about a lot in the coming months.
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