A brand new force of nature might have been found: says CERN report
The standard model of particle physics- that’s the decisively sombre sounding name of the mathematical theory which addresses how scientists look at the subatomic world. This theory posits that particles would devolve into things like electrons at the same rate as they disintegrate into stuff like muon- which is a heavier thing compared to the electron.
But then, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva found a strange signal recently in their data- a signal that could potentially usher in an entirely new form of physics.
By analysing ten years’ worth of data, scientists have found that the particles that go by the funky name of B messons devolved into familiar matters like electrons- which is not at all how the standard model predicts things to happen.
The idea that a brand new branch of a science could be opening up is exciting.
In fact, at this point, I consider the beginning of just about any new thing as good news- because everywhere we turn, these days, we get news of destruction. People destroying each other in the name of ideology, a virus destroying countless lives and livelihoods, the unprecedented destruction of species in the Anthropocene…Amidst this cloud of bleakness, news like this is like the sun’s rays somehow bursting through against all odds.
The cern results show that instead of decaying the way the standard model predicts, and generating muons and electrons in the same rate, the B mesons devolve with the end result being electrons.
Exciting as this may be, this is still not conclusive proof. Scientists ascribe the finding with a 3.1 sigma significance. That means the result has a chance of being a fluke in around 1 in one thousand. That’s great odds, one may think. And indeed, it might be the case in a non-scientific setting.
However, for scientists to consider a result seriously enough, it should have a five sigma significance. What are the odds a five sigma significance represents? Glad you asked: it means chance of it being a fluke is one in millions. Whew.
What is the standard model of particle physics?
The standard model describes the forces and particles which guide the subatomic world. It gives you a picture of how particles named quarks construct protons and neutrons within atomic nuclei. It also explains how quarks combine with electrons to create all known matter in the universe.
Further, the standard model posits three of the 4 fundamental forces seen in in nature.
But that’s not to say that the standard model is holistic. Not by a long shot. In fact, the model doesn’t explain gravity- the fourth force and even more curiously, it couldn’t explain ninety five percent of the universe which is thought not to be built of ordinary matter.
Scientists believe that the bulk of the cosmos is made of the alluringly names dark energy- a force which keeps all matter tethered in space.
