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Article: Muon orbits may defy main physics theory.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- February 17, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By measuring a magnetic trait of electronlike muon particles, scientists have uncovered evidence of a possible crack in the prevailing theory of physics.
For 30 years, the theory called the standard model has withstood all challenges to its predictions of the properties and interactions of elementary particles (SN: 7/1/95, p. 10). Despite the theory's successes, physicists have long suspected that it is an incomplete picture of the subatomic world.
In the dogma-rocking experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y., an international team of researchers detected a minuscule deviation from the standard model's prediction for the muon's ...