Standard model; particle physics (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, May 27, 2011, 14:41 (4906 days ago) @ David Turell

The following snippet from yesterday's Guardian might interest our scientists. The headline reads: "The electron is very, very round". A team of physicists made 25 million measurements, and this finding apparently rules out some particles that theories suggested might pop into existence at the Cern LHC. Jony Hudson, from Imperial College London, says: "What's interesting is that it is so round it is becoming difficult for theories like supersymmetry" ... which posits that every kind of particle has a heavy twin, but requires the electron be a slightly distorted shape. Well, theories come and theories go. Aaron Leanhardt (Univ. of Michigan) says the work gives a window on "the high energy soul of the cosmos." Interesting choice of words.