Discovery May Lead to New Physics Theory
Physicists have found provocative evidence that a subatomic particle behaves in a way that cannot be explained by the prevailing model of how matter works on the smallest scale.
If confirmed, the findings would carry science into new territory beyond the standard model of particle physics, which for 30 years has been the prevailing description of all the elementary particles in nature and the forces between them.
The results announced Thursday could provide support for a relatively young theory known as “supersymmetry,” which proposes that for every conventional subatomic particle there is a corresponding supersymmetric particle (or “sparticle”) whose magnetic effect is different in a predictable way from its companion’s.
“This work could open up a whole new world of exploration for physicists interested in new theories, such as supersymmetry,” which were previously untestable, said Boston University physicist Lee Roberts, a spokesman for the research team. “We may have caught a glimpse of something really new.”
The ongoing experiment focuses on a subatomic particle known as a muon, which is actually a type of heavyweight electron not found in ordinary matter. Scientists in this century have learned that everything we see and the entire vast universe is made up of grainy bits of matter such as these, 10,000 or 100,000 times smaller than an atom--or even tinier.
By gaining a better understanding of these building blocks, their basic properties and the laws that govern them, scientists hope to gain insights into the unifying principles of nature at both the largest and smallest scales.
“There is a fair chance they have actually discovered a new effect, not fully accounted for by the accepted, very well-tested standard model,” said Frank Wilcek, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an architect of the standard model. The work was led by scientists from the Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers from 11 institutions in the United States, Russia, Japan and Germany.
