Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here. The muon is
Speaker 1: a particle about two hundred times the mass of an electron,
Speaker 1: that exists for only about two millionths of a second,
Speaker 1: that continually strikes every inch of Earth's surface, and that
Speaker 1: seems to behave in a way that pokes a whole
Speaker 1: and long accepted laws of physics. Muan's, first discovered in
Speaker 1: the late nineteen thirties, are formed in nature when cosmic
Speaker 1: rays strike particles in our planet's atmosphere. Muans are passing
Speaker 1: through you and everything around you at a speed close
Speaker 1: to that of light, and in April one, the particle
Speaker 1: made news headlines after researchers at the U S government's
Speaker 1: Fermie National Accelerator Laboratory, more commonly known as Fermie Lab
Speaker 1: at least the initial results of a three year long
Speaker 1: muan G two experiment. The Fermi Lab study confirmed previous
Speaker 1: findings that the muan behaves in a way that's contrary
Speaker 1: to the standard model of particle physics, which is the
Speaker 1: theoretical framework that aims to describe how reality works at
Speaker 1: the tiniest level. It's also referred to as the present theory, muans,
Speaker 1: which exist in a sea of other tiny particles and
Speaker 1: anti particles that affect them, actually are slightly more magnetic
Speaker 1: than the standard model would predict. That in turn points
Speaker 1: to the possible existence of other still unknown particles or forces.
Speaker 1: As one of the researchers, physicist Jason Bano explained in
Speaker 1: a news release from his alma matter, Florida International University,
Speaker 1: the team knew that if they confirmed the discrepancy in
Speaker 1: Muan's magnetism quote, we wouldn't know exactly what's causing it,
Speaker 1: but we wouldn't know it's something that we don't understand yet.
Speaker 1: The initial results, along with other recent particle research, could
Speaker 1: help build the case for a new system of physics
Speaker 1: that would replace the standard model. For the article, this
Speaker 1: episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke by email
Speaker 1: with Mark b Wise, a professor of high energy physics
Speaker 1: at the California Institute of Technology and a member of
Speaker 1: the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, and if that doesn't
Speaker 1: sufficiently impress you, He also served as a technical consultant
Speaker 1: on particle accelerators for the twenty film iron Man. Too
Speaker 1: Wise explained, muons are like electrons except two hundred times
Speaker 1: heavier according to Einstein's formula E equals mc squared, and
Speaker 1: this means that muan's at rest have greater energy than electrons.
Speaker 1: This allows them to decay to lighter particles while still
Speaker 1: conserving energy overall. Another key difference is that electrons are
Speaker 1: believed to be pretty close to a mortal, but muans
Speaker 1: only exist for two point two millionths of a second
Speaker 1: before they decay into an electron and two kinds of neutrinos.
Speaker 1: The muons that are constantly being created when cosmic rays
Speaker 1: strike particles in Earth's atmosphere travel astonishing distances in their
Speaker 1: brief existence, moving it close to the speed of light.
Speaker 1: They strike Earth's surface and pass through almost everything in
Speaker 1: their immediate path, potentially penetrating a mile or more into
Speaker 1: the Earth. Some have described muans as the key to
Speaker 1: understanding all sub atomic particles, though Wise doesn't go quite
Speaker 1: that far. He said in the Search for physics beyond
Speaker 1: our present understanding, you should study all particles. The muan
Speaker 1: has some advantages, though, For example, it's anomalous magnetic moment
Speaker 1: is very precisely predicted, which makes it more sensitive to
Speaker 1: new physics beyond our present theory that would alter this prediction.
Speaker 1: At the same time, it can be measured very precisely.
Speaker 1: Studying muons isn't a simple matter, though. Fairmulab is using
Speaker 1: a seven hundred ton device containing three rings each fifty
Speaker 1: feet or fifteen meters in diameter. There was shipped by
Speaker 1: barge and truck to Illinois from its original home at
Speaker 1: Brookhaven nash In the Laboratory in New York a few
Speaker 1: years back. The device is capable of generating a magnetic
Speaker 1: field of one point four or five tesla, which is
Speaker 1: approximately thirty thousand times out of Earth's magnetic field. A
Speaker 1: Wise said, it's fascinating that to study something so tiny
Speaker 1: and short lived they need these huge pieces of equipment.
Speaker 1: When they're produced at high energy, they travel almost at
Speaker 1: the speed of light. It can travel a fair distance
Speaker 1: before they decay, so you might look for the evidence
Speaker 1: they leave in a detector. For example. Since muans are
Speaker 1: charged particles, they can ionize the matter they pass through,
Speaker 1: and the electrons that are produced by this ionization can
Speaker 1: be detected. According to Wise, the Family Lab team's recent
Speaker 1: discovery that the particle is slightly more magnetic than physicists
Speaker 1: expected is significant, oh I said, it disagrees with the
Speaker 1: present theories prediction for the muan magnetic moment. So there
Speaker 1: is some new physics beyond that in our present theory
Speaker 1: that is present and change the prediction for this quantity.
Speaker 1: Like many important discoveries, the Fermi Labs finding raises more
Speaker 1: new questions and there's much that scientists still want to
Speaker 1: know about the muan why said, what is the new
Speaker 1: physics is the question it raises. There are also some
Speaker 1: other anomalies that are not explained in the standard model
Speaker 1: that involved muans. Are they all connected in some way? Wise?
Speaker 1: Also sounds a note of caution about the FAMI Lab findings.
Speaker 1: A quote. It may be there's some systematic effect in
Speaker 1: the experiment that is not understood and is impacting the
Speaker 1: interpretation of the measurement. Similarly for the theory, so this
Speaker 1: anomaly could ultimately disappear. It is very important to check
Speaker 1: such things as much as possible. Today's episode is based
Speaker 1: on the article muans these subtomic particles shaking up the
Speaker 1: world of physics on how Stuff works dot com, written
Speaker 1: by Patrick J. Tiger. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart
Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot com and
Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler. Playing or more podcasts from My
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