The Muon Wobble and the Standard Model...

[Rick]

There's been a bit in the press over the last few days about an un-explained muon wobble that might need some re-thinking of the Standard Model of particle physics...

Long-Awaited Muon Measurement Boosts Evidence for New Physics

When hundreds of physicists gathered on a Zoom call in late February to discuss their experiment's results, none of them knew what they had found. Like doctors in a clinical trial, the researchers at the Muon g-2 experiment blinded their data, concealing a single variable that prevented them from being biased about or knowing—for years—what the information they were working with actually meant.

But when the data were unveiled over Zoom, the physicists knew the wait had been worth it: their results are further evidence that new physics is hiding in muons, the bulkier cousins of electrons. "That was the point at which we knew the results. Until then we had no idea," says Rebecca Chislett, a physicist at University College London, who is part of the Muon g-2 collaboration. "It was exciting and nerve-wracking and a bit of a relief."

More: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/long-awaited-muon-measurement-boosts-evidence-for-new-physics/

First results from Fermilab's Muon g-2 experiment strengthen evidence of new physics

The long-awaited first results from the Muon g-2 experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory show fundamental particles called muons behaving in a way that is not predicted by scientists' best theory, the Standard Model of particle physics. This landmark result, made with unprecedented precision, confirms a discrepancy that has been gnawing at researchers for decades.

More: https://news.fnal.gov/2021/04/first-results-from-fermilabs-muon-g-2-experiment-strengthen-evidence-of-new-physics/

...and an explanation on Twitter: https://twitter.com/harryvcliff/status/1379832831979950085

...and a song (because why not): https://youtu.be/G1dAdDXz2Fk