In a laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, 200 physicists from seven countries have made possibly the greatest scientific discovery in decades.
It involves a subatomic particle called Muon. It’s like an electron, but 200 times heavier.
So far, the standard model, or plan for the 17 fundamental particles in the universe, has focused on four forces: electromagnetism, gravity, strong interaction, and weak interaction.
But after Fermilab scientists accelerated a Muon through a huge magnetic field at the speed of light, it began to oscillate like a top, in a way that conflicted with the standard model.
“There may be similar new particles, which we don’t explain appearing and coming out of existence, that make it a little different than was calculated,” said Rosi Reed, an associate professor of physics at Lehigh University.
Reed says it could be an indication of a fifth force or it could lead to explanations of cosmic mysteries.
“The standard model says nothing about gravity, another is that the standard model can’t fully explain why we exist, how there is more matter than antimatter,” Reed said.
There has been no discovery like this since 2012, when the Higgs boson was confirmed. This is the particle that gives too much to the other particles.
Fermilab scientists still have a lot of data to analyze and will conduct more experiments to find out if this is new or is the result of unknown information about existing forces.
Reed says that in any case, it will provoke a scientific study for future generations.