New particles and unknown forces in nature excite physicists

His strange behavior of muon, a fundamental subatomic particle, probably refers to the existence of hitherto unknown “exotic” particles and forces beyond the Established Model of Physics. Previous simple indications of this have become very strong after new measurements by scientists in the US, which dramatically increased the likelihood of new discoveries, although nothing should be taken for granted, according to APE.

At the end of March, similar indications from an experiment in CERN of Europe. If confirmed in the future, it will be the most important discovery since Higgs particle, bringing to light new fundamental data in nature.

The muons, as electrically charged particles, rotate when they are in a magnetic field and the frequency of this rotation, which can be measured, depends on the interactions of the muon with other particles and forces, which is what the so-called “factor g” represents. The value of this factor can be accurately calculated with the help of the Standard Model of particle physics developed about 50 years ago.

But as early as 2001 they appeared in Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York experimental findings that deviated from theoretical predictions, as muons – discovered in 1936 and are like electrons but 207 times heavier and more unstable – appear to be more magnetic and rotate slightly faster than expected, disobeying known natural laws.

Now the new measurements from Muon g-2 experiment at the Fermilab Accelerator National Laboratory in Illinois, involving scientists from seven countries, presented at two scientific publications in the Physical Review Letters, with the participation of more than 200 scientists, confirm that something unexpected is happening with muons, something that probably “testifies” to the existence of unknown particles and physical forces, according to “Science”, “Nature”, “New Scientist”, BBC and The New York Times.

The anomaly in the measurements probably stems from a phenomenon of quantum mechanics, the virtual particles, pairs of a particle of matter and an antimatter, which elusively emerge and disappear almost immediately. For the very short time they exist, they can affect the behavior of real particles such as muons. These pairs of virtual particles may consist of already known particles, such as an electron and a positron, but they may also consist of something more exotic and hitherto unknown.

Fermilab’s new experiments come after the recent announcement by physicists of CERN’s LHCb experiment in Europe that they also found something strange happening to the way muons decay. The two findings are probably related, but it is not yet certain, as there is not enough data to prove the existence of new particles or physical forces.

“We have been looking for a crack in the Standard since the 1970s. “And now we may have found her,” he said Alexei Petrov tWayne State University, USA.

The professor Mark Thompson, its head British Science and Technology Council stated that “we know that our current understanding of the universe is incomplete. What we see now from new experiments, such as the g-2, may be the first glances behind the curtain into a new world of physics. “

The physicist Graziano Venanconi of National Institute of Nuclear Physics of Italy and one of the representatives of the g-2 experiment already spoke of “a special day, long awaited not only by us but by the entire international community of physicists.”

THE Cambridge Professor Ben Alanach He stated that “throughout my career I have been looking for forces and particles beyond what we already know and this is the moment I was waiting for, so I can not sleep much from my excitement.”

The professor Mark Lancaster of the University of Manchester, stated that “the new measurement of g-2 has been expected for a long time and provides strong indications of the existence of new particles and forces. We know that the current list of fundamental particles and forces is incomplete because they do not suffice to explain dark matter in the universe and the fact that the universe has very little antimatter. The new Fermilab measurement has a chance of 1,000 being a statistical error and one in 40,000, if combined with the previous measurement in Brookhaven.

To be considered a discovery, the probability of error must be reduced to a probability of 3.5 million (statistical confidence level of 5 sigma, compared to 4.2 currently). Physicists are already analyzing more data to improve the accuracy of the measurements for the mysterious behavior of the muon.

So far, 17 fundamental subatomic particles and four fundamental forces have been found in nature (gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong nuclear force). If a new force is found, it will be the fifth. As for the possible, hitherto unknown, subatomic particles that have been proposed to affect the muon, they are fine quarks and ZD bosons.