Muon Wobble Possible Door to Supersymmetric Universe
Explanation:
How fast do
fundamental particles wobble?
A
surprising answer to this seemingly
inconsequential question is coming out of
Brookhaven National Laboratory in
New York,
USA and may not only that indicate that the
Standard Model of Particle Physics is
incomplete but also that our universe is filled with
a previously undetected type of
fundamental particles.
Specifically, the
muon, a particle with similarities to a heavy
electron,
has had its relatively large
wobble under scrutiny since 1999 in an experiment known as
g-2 (gee-minus-two),
pictured above.
The result galvanizes other experimental groups
around the world to confirm it, and pressures theorists
to better understand it.
The
rate of wobble is sensitive to a strange sea of
virtual particles that pop into out of existence everywhere.
The
unexpected wobble rate may
indicate that this sea houses virtual particles that include nearly invisible
supersymmetric
counterparts to known particles.
If so, a nearly
invisible universe of real supersymmetric particles
might exist all around us.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
