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APOD: 2005 August 28 ? Muon Wobble Possible Door to Supersymmetric
Universe
Explanation:
How fast do
fundamental particles wobble?
A surprising answer to this seemingly
inconsequential question has come out of
Brookhaven National Laboratory in
New York,
USA and may not only indicate that the
Standard Model of Particle Physics is
incomplete but also that our universe is filled with
a previously undetected type of
fundamental particle.
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 has galvanized 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 and 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.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: particle physics
Publications with words: particle physics
See also: