Latest news with #Fermilab
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
This Particle Isn't Following the Rules of Physics. Maybe the Rules Are Wrong.
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: For nearly a century, the magnetic anomaly of the fundamental particle known as a muon has served as a means to test theories against experimental reality. Recently, an international collaboration powered by the U.S.-based Fermilab has released its most accurate data on this anomalous magnetic dipole moment, known as g-2 ('gee minus two'). These new results align closely with recent theoretical predictions, and will serve as a benchmark moving forward. The Standard Model of Particle Physics is a remarkable scientific achievement spanning nearly a century, and its predictive power has proven incredibly consistent. However, any scientific model worth its salt also needs to withstand experimental scrutiny, and one of the places those tests are employed is Fermilab. Starting in 2017, an international collaboration of scientists have used data from Fermilab's 50-foot-diameter magnetic ring to measure the wobble of a fundamental particle known as a muon in what is referred to as the lab's 'muon g-2 experiment.' More than 200 times heavier than electrons, muons only survive for a few microseconds, but they have spins that makes them act like tiny magnets. This wobble, or precession, is due to an external magnetic field is called a g-factor, and a century ago, this factor was found to be 2 (hence the name 'muon g-2 experiment'). However, the introduction of quantum field theory complicates this number by bringing strong, weak, and Higgs fields interactions into the equation. This slight deviation from the '2' prediction is known as the muon's anomalous magnetic dipole moment. To better understand this anomaly, Fermilab has consistently released results from its run of experiments that stretches from 2017 to 2023. On June 3, 2025, the muon g-2 experiment finally released its full results, with a precision of roughly 127 parts-per-billion—the most sensitive and accurate measurement of the muon's magnetic anomaly to date. The results of the study were submitted to the journal Physical Review D. 'The anomalous magnetic moment, or g–2, of the muon is important because it provides a sensitive test of the Standard Model of particle physics,' Regina Rameika, the U.S. Department of Energy's Associate Director for the Office of High Energy Physics, said in a press statement. 'This is an exciting result and it is great to see an experiment come to a definitive end with a precision measurement.' Understanding this precise measurement of muon g-2 can help scientists discover new physics, as any deviation between experimental results and theoretical predictions using the Standard Model could point toward unknowns in our understanding of the subatomic world. While experimental physicists work to perfect ways of measuring the magnetic anomaly, theoretical physicists—especially those participating in the Muon Theory Initiative, which released its own update in late May—have largely sorted themselves into two 'camps' when calculating this theoretical prediction, according to Ethan Siegel at Big Think. One camp takes a data-driven approach to Hadronic vacuum polarization and the other uses a computational-based Lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) technique. In 2021, it appeared that Fermilab's initial results were much closer to the Lattice QCD computational calculations, dampening (but not eliminating) the possibility of new physics orbiting the muon. Now, with this new calculation in hand, scientists can move forward with renewed confidence in an experimental result that's been a popular test of the Standard Model of Physics for a century. 'As it has been for decades, the magnetic moment of the muon continues to be a stringent benchmark of the Standard Model,' Simon Corrodi, assistant physicist at Argonne National Laboratory and analysis co-coordinator, said in a press statement. 'The new experimental result sheds new light on this fundamental theory and will set the benchmark for any new theoretical calculation to come.' This isn't the end for measuring the muon magnetic anomaly—the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex aims to make its own g-2 measurements in the 2030s (though Fermilab says that its initial precision will be worse than their own latest results). Today, this muon g-2 result is a testament of the incredible engineering and multidisciplinary scientific effort required to uncover just a little bit more about our ever-mysterious universe. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
20-Year Mystery of The Muon's Wiggle May Finally Be Solved
Physicists at Fermilab have made the most precise measurement ever of a long-disputed value – the magnetic 'wiggle' of an elementary particle known as a muon. In somewhat disappointing news, that measurement is in strong agreement with the Standard Model, meaning it probably isn't hiding any exotic new physics as some had hoped. A muon is similar to an electron, except it's about 207 times more massive. The way muons move in a magnetic field should theoretically be very predictable, summed up in what's called its gyromagnetic ratio, or g. In a simple world, the value of g should be a nice, neat 2 – but of course, that would be too easy. The muon's magnetic dance is something of an anomaly, and in the same way that pi is just a touch over 3, the muon's g-factor seemed to be very slightly over 2. How slightly? Just 0.001165920705, according to new results from Fermilab's Muon g-2 experiment. This measurement incorporates data collected over six years of particle accelerator experiments. The team says this final number is accurate to within 127 parts per billion. To put that level of precision into perspective, the researchers say if you measured the width of the US to that degree, you'd be able to tell if a single grain of sand was missing. But the really intriguing part of the research is the room it left for new forces or particles to explain the anomalous magnetic motion. A related project called the Muon g-2 Theory Initiative set out to check what the Standard Model predicted for this value. Incorporating a wider dataset than ever, their latest calculation comes out at 0.00116592033. That puts it extremely close to the value gained from experimental means, which leaves very little wiggle room for any cool, exotic physics to be at play. "The anomalous magnetic moment, or g–2, of the muon is important because it provides a sensitive test of the Standard Model of particle physics," says Regina Rameika, experimental physicist at the US Department of Energy's Office of High Energy Physics. "This is an exciting result and it is great to see an experiment come to a definitive end with a precision measurement." As a muon spins inside a magnetic field, its poles should essentially line up with the field. That turned out to not be the case – instead, it wobbles ever so slightly, like an unbalanced spinning top. And if this wobble was particularly extreme, it could mean the muon is being nudged by unseen, unknown particles. A vacuum isn't ever truly empty – thanks to quantum fluctuations, pairs of virtual particles are constantly popping into and out of existence. These brief interlopers to our reality can affect other nearby particles in various ways. Thanks to its relative heft, the muon is particularly sensitive to the influence of virtual particles. So by precisely measuring how much the muon wobbles beyond its expected range, physicists could calculate the properties of these mysterious virtual particles, potentially unlocking a new realm of physics beyond the Standard Model. Hypothetical explanations could include dark photons or supersymmetry. The g-factor of the muon has been a fascinating thorn in the side of physicists for decades. Clues that something was amiss came in 2001, when the first version of the Muon g-2 experiment revealed a wide discrepancy between theory and practice. Further experiments over the decades since led to increasingly precise measurements, while techniques to calculate the predictions of the Standard Model also improved at the same time. And yet, a mismatch remained. The current version of the Muon g-2 experiment was fired up in 2018, conducting a new run of experiments each year until 2023. Data from the first three runs were released in two batches, each seeming to point more and more towards new physics. This latest measurement incorporates data from the full six runs, which more than triples the dataset used for the last release. That data isn't just more plentiful, but higher quality too, taking advantage of improvements made to the equipment. Sadly for those hoping to add a few extra chapters to their physics textbooks, it seems that in this case everything is as it should be. That's not to say we know everything though – dark matter and even gravity don't fit into the Standard Model yet, so there's still plenty of holes left to plug. The research has been submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters and is available on preprint server arXiv. Sound of Earth's Flipping Magnetic Field Is an Unforgettable Horror World-First Study Reveals How Lightning Sparks Gamma-Ray Flashes The Universe Is 'Suspiciously' Like a Computer Simulation, Physicist Says
New York Times
4 days ago
- General
- New York Times
What Secrets Lie in a Particle's Wobble? Physicists Still Can't Say.
It has been 12 years since physicists transported a giant magnetic ring down the Atlantic coast, around Florida, up the Mississippi River and across two interstates to Batavia, Ill. On Tuesday, the team behind that ring unveiled their final result: the most precise value yet recorded for the tiny wobble of a subatomic particle called the muon. Physicists hoped that the measurement, submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters, would open a window to new types of energy and matter that so far have only been theorized. 'We want to know how our universe formed, what it's made out of and how it interacts,' said Peter Winter, a physicist at Argonne National Laboratory and a spokesman for the Muon g-2 Collaboration, which ran the experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, or Fermilab. The new result, he said, 'will stand as a benchmark for years to come.' But a glaring problem remains. Physicists have predicted two distinct values for the muon's wobble but aren't sure which is correct. The new result matches one prediction, but until the other prediction can be satisfyingly explained away, scientists won't know if they have uncovered evidence of new physics. 'The Fermilab experiment is hugely successful, they did their job,' said Aida El-Khadra, a physicist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who leads the Muon g-2 Theory Initiative. 'We theorists, we still need to follow up.' Until the dust settles, Dr. El-Khadra added, 'the jury is still out.' Muons are similar to electrons but far heavier and unstable in nature. When placed in a magnetic field, they precess, or wobble, like a spinning top. The speed of that wobble depends on a property of the muon related to its internal magnetism, known to physicists as g. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
New 4D quantum sensors may help physicists trace the birth of space and time
Smashing subatomic particles together at near-light speeds has long been the best way to understand the universe's fundamental building blocks. These high-energy collisions, conducted inside massive particle accelerators, help physicists study matter, energy, space, and time. As new accelerators promise even more powerful and chaotic collisions, scientists need tools far more advanced than those used before. That's where quantum sensors come in. A team from Fermilab, Caltech, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and several international institutions has developed a new type of detector that could redefine how we study particle collisions. These superconducting microwire single-photon detectors, or SMSPDs, were recently tested at Fermilab and showed exceptional precision in detecting particles produced during high-energy beams. As future colliders reach greater energies and particle intensities, physicists expect to encounter a flood of data — sprays of particles flying out in all directions. That makes detection more complex than ever. According to Maria Spiropulu, the Shang-Yi Ch'en Professor of Physics at Caltech, 'In the next 20 to 30 years, we will see a paradigm shift in particle colliders as they become more powerful in energy and intensity. And that means we need more precise detectors.' SMSPDs offer a breakthrough by detecting both time and spatial information at once, something traditional detectors can't do. Fermilab scientist Si Xie, who also holds a joint appointment at Caltech, explains that these are essentially '4D sensors' because they combine spatial and time resolution, eliminating the need to compromise between the two. In their first major test, the SMSPDs were exposed to high-energy beams of protons, electrons, and pions at Fermilab. The detectors outperformed conventional systems in both time precision and spatial tracking. Determining exactly when and where particles travel is crucial when analyzing the millions of interactions that happen each second in particle collisions. 'The novelty of this study is that we proved the sensors can efficiently detect charged particles,' says Xie. Unlike their predecessors, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs), which are better suited for quantum networking or space-based optical communication, SMSPDs have a larger surface area and are capable of tracking particles that are key to high-energy physics experiments. The detectors could make it possible to identify lower-mass particles or entirely new ones, such as those hypothesized to make up dark matter. Xie sees this as just the beginning: 'We have the potential to detect particles lower in mass than we could before as well as exotic particles like those that may constitute dark matter.' Precision is vital in identifying such elusive targets. As Spiropulu puts it, 'Back in the 1980s, we thought having the spatial coordinates were enough, but now... we also need to track time.' The SMSPDs help researchers trace particles in four dimensions, offering an edge in navigating the overwhelming complexity of modern collider environments. These quantum detectors may become foundational to future colliders, including the proposed Future Circular Collider or a muon collider. Fermilab scientist Cristián Peña, who led the research, sees the technology as a timely advancement. 'We are very excited to work on cutting-edge detector R&D like SMSPDs because they may play a vital role in capstone projects in the field,' he says.
CBS News
22-04-2025
- Science
- CBS News
First new bison calves of year born on Fermilab grounds
Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois , is known for its powerful particle accelerator and cutting-edge research in particle physics , but outside the U.S. Department of Energy facility, the bison that roam the tallgrass prairielands are famous in their own right. As calving season begins at Fermilab, two new bison calves were born Monday. The calves joined the bison heard that has been grazing on the Fermilab grounds since 1969. "Our herd is doing well," Fermilab herdsman Cleo Garcia said in a news release. "Each year, we monitor the cows closely to estimate how many calves we'll have. It's always exciting to see the first birth of the season." About 20 calves are expected to be born this season. The herd is now made up of 23 bison cows, two bulls, and three yearlings born last year, Fermilab noted. Fermilab rotates the bison bulls every five to seven years to maintain genetic diversity — while ensuring the herd remains as close to full-blooded American bison as possible. Genetic testing in 2015 found there were few to any cattle genes in the bison herd, Fermilab said. Bison calves have a cinnamon-colored coat when they're born, and weigh 40 to 70 pounds. Their coat turns brown as they grow, and they can reach weights of 300 to 350 pounds by the age of six months, Fermilab said. Calving season usually goes through June, though a calf was born as late as September last year. The outdoor public areas at Fermilab are open daily from dawn until dusk. Visitors are welcome, but must bring Real ID-compliant identification to enter, Fermilab said.
