ANALYSIS
A NEW FORCE: PHYSICS MIGHT SOON NEED AN UPDATE
New measurements of subatomic particles interacting with magnetic fields hint at physics beyond the Standard Model
On 10 August, an international collaboration of scientists at the Fermi National Laboratory (Fermilab) on the outskirts of Chicago announced an updated and more precise measurement of the way muons interact with a magnetic field.
The update was eagerly awaited, largely because previous measurements disagreed with the predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics. The discrepancy has led to talk of a possible fifth force of nature. But what would that mean, and what did the update tell us?
There are four known fundamental forces: gravity, the electromagnetic force, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force.
Gravity is described by relativity; the other three are encompassed by the Standard Model of particle physics. A fifth force would be something beyond this and, as such, would be a huge breakthrough in our understanding of the physics behind the world we live in.