Physicists Discover New Subatomic Particle? Maybe.
Posted by Ryan on April 7th, 2011
Physicists have just announced the discovery of something that falls outside the current understanding of particle physics. While zipping particles through Fermilab’s Tevatron collider they noticed that things were getting weird. While creating subatomic particles as a byproduct of these collisions, they can determine the various particles created in these collisions by looking at the energy of the jets. They can also use the Standard Model to predict the expected values created in these events, unless things get weird, and as stated before, things got weird.
“According to project spokesperson Giovanni Punzi, there were around 253 more electrons and muons created than expected compared to a background of about 10,000 such particles. Such jets could be created by a previously unknown particle about 160 times the mass of a proton, although we stress that’s only one possibility.”
So what are the other possibilities, if it isn’t a new previously unknown particle?
1. Fluke
2. Mistake
3. New, unknown feature of the Standard Model
4. A new fundamental force.
[io9]
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