Scientists at the American particle accelerator Fermilab accelerated muons to a speed close to the speed of light, and then noticed something very strange in their behavior.

Scientists at the Fermilab particle accelerator near Chicago may be on the verge of a big discovery that could change our view of the universe. The researchers found more evidence that muons – particles smaller than atoms – do not behave as we would expect based on the currently known laws of physics.

their research results the Physical review letters It has been submitted for publication in the scientific journal

Muons are fundamental particles, similar to electrons, but about 200 times larger. They began experimenting with these particles in a magnetic field. Originally, it was expected to oscillate in a predictable manner as it moved near the speed of light in the 15-meter-diameter ring – a particle accelerator. Instead, they find that the muons are oscillating much faster than is possible based on current theories describing the world.

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Graziano Venanzoni, a scientist at the University of Liverpool BBCto He stated that this discrepancy may be caused by a fifth force that we do not yet know. All this, he says, is a very serious discovery that revealed something new about the universe known until now.

The four forces currently known are gravity, electromagnetism, and the weak and strong interactions.

The results cannot be considered criticism yet, and the probability of error is 1:40,000. In order to be able to talk about a scientific discovery, it is necessary to establish that the probability of error is 1:3,500,000.

However, the team was quite impressed with what they found so far. The researchers are now hopeful that they will be able to collect more data in the future, thus reducing the possibility of error. According to Mitch Patel of Imperial College London, the Standard Model of the Universe has been tested countless times over the past 50 years and has always stood the test of time. So the scientist thought it would be revolutionary to find something new.

Currently, the Standard Model cannot explain many phenomena observed in the universe: for example, changes in the acceleration or rotation of galaxies due to dark energy or dark matter. Therefore, these forces and particles are not yet part of the Standard Model.

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