I interned under the scientists that did the original Brookhaven Muon g-2 experiments. I learned a ton during multiple months from them and it was so interesting to learn why this measurement is so important. One of the sad parts is that a decade later, a lot of the original team has either retired or left Federal labs because the environment has become toxic due to a mixture of politics and greener pastures beyond national labs and academia. It’s quite sad to see the US science community degrade over this past decade.
Article doesn't indicate how close this measurement is to any specific theoretical value, and, therefore, doesn't hint at whether this experiment is expected to actually challenge a standing Standard Model calculation.<p>I suspect that's because<p>> ... a new experimental measurement of the data that feeds into the prediction and a new calculation based on a different theoretical approach — lattice gauge theory — are in tension with the 2020 calculation<p>> Scientists of the Muon g-2 Theory Initiative aim to have a new, improved prediction available in the next couple of years that considers both theoretical approaches.<p>Sounds like the theorists are lagging behind.
The quality of this "press release" is really impressive. It is very well written, with clear and easy to understand explanations - no over emphasis on any specific stuff, clean page and wording.<p>I enjoyed reading through it, this is something I miss more and more with most of the press release made to grab the 5-second-attention of people scrolling through their feed in whatever media app they are using.
Link to paper [0] - now that’s a concise author list, lol.<p>[0] <a href="https://muon-g-2.fnal.gov/result2023.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://muon-g-2.fnal.gov/result2023.pdf</a>
"The muon, like its lighter sibling the electron, acts like a tiny magnet. The parameter known as the "g factor" indicates how strong the magnet is and the rate of its gyration in an externally applied magnetic field. It is this rate of gyration that is indirectly measured in the Muon g − 2 experiment.<p>The value of g is slightly larger than 2, hence the name of the experiment. This difference from 2 (the "anomalous" part) is caused by higher-order contributions from quantum field theory. In measuring g − 2 with high precision and comparing its value to the theoretical prediction, physicists will discover whether the experiment agrees with theory. Any deviation would point to as yet undiscovered subatomic particles that exist in nature.[4] "<p>From Wikipedia. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon_g-2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon_g-2</a> Standard model g factor should be 2.00233183620(86): <a href="https://physics.aps.org/articles/v16/139" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://physics.aps.org/articles/v16/139</a><p>TLDR: Standard model says the ratio measured should be about 2 for g, ie g-2 > 0 would indicate contributions from quantum field theory, which are yet to be well understood and could indicate there are more particles responsible for the excess.