Fwd: The tiny particle that could upend the known laws of physics.

[Frank Wimberly-2]

I wish Hywel were around to discuss this.  Here's  something he said about muons in his essay "Neutrinos for my Friends":

The μ particle is called muon and has a mass of 105.7 MeV.  We have a problem here.  When a process like this happens not only must energy be conserved but momentum also.  That means that we have to have two particles in the decay structure, because when the pion decays at rest then energy and momentum must be equal on both sides of our decay equation.  To make the total momentum in the right hand side of the equation zero, to balance the pion which is at rest, there must be two particles going back to back.  What is the missing particle, neutrino of course.  Change the decay equation to form 

π  →  μ + ν

Now we get to face a new problem, we have a new particle, perhaps a lepton to which we assign the symbol μ.  Then given a notion that if we have a charged lepton we must have an associated neutral lepton then if we want to invent a new charged lepton namely a muon then, we have to invent a different neutrino.  We will call the muon μ and the neutrino νμ.  Now get pedantic and rewrite the decay equation as 

π+  →  μ+ + νμ

Then we have some more new problems, we have chosen a positively charged pion and so we have an antilepton μ+ and a lepton νμ.  This combination follows the structure of the electron lepton pair so we should feel comfortable with this similarity.   Later there was a new discovery, namely another lepton called τ, with a corresponding neutrino and given the strength of our observationality that is it.  Seems likely but who knows! 

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: The New York Times <[hidden email]>
Date: Thu, Apr 8, 2021 at 4:36 PM
Subject: The tiny particle that could upend the known laws of physics.
To: <[hidden email]>

Meet the muon: Though small in size, its possible significance may be vast.

View in browser|nytimes.com

April 8, 2021

The Muon g-2 ring, at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., operates at minus 450 degrees Fahrenheit and studies the wobble of muons as they travel through the magnetic field.Reidar Hahn/Fermilab, via U.S. Department of Energy

Evidence is mounting that the muon, a tiny subatomic particle, is being influenced by forms of matter and energy that are not yet known to science, but which may affect the nature and evolution of the universe. This discovery could eventually lead to breakthroughs more dramatic than the heralded discovery in 2012 of the Higgs boson.

“This is our Mars rover landing moment,” said Chris Polly, a physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., who has been working toward this finding for most of his career.

Read our expanded coverage here.

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