The new experiment measuring the W boson's mass claims such narrow error bars that the Standard Model predictions are 6.5 standard deviations away. Most experts think this experiment, called CDFII, made a mistake somewhere.
(1/n)
Dorigo explains things that could have gone wrong, but there's no smoking gun.
It's also good to read @Resonaances@twitter.com:
http://resonaances.blogspot.com/2022/
They point out that combined with old results, this new work *increases* the error bars in our best estimate of the W boson mass!
(3/n)
@Resonaances@twitter.com There's no *obvious* beyond-Standard-Model physics that points to a heavier than expected W boson. So as Dorigo jokes:
"So, just hold on with that champagne bottle, you Standard Model haters ;-)"
It will take time to figure this one out....
(4/n, n=4)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk1781
Oh, I can follow resonaances? Thanks for the hint, @johncarlosbaez!
@johncarlosbaez
This expert thinks that particle physics research should be put on a back burner until after we have decarbonized our energy grids in order to help ensure that we will be able to continue delving into our universe's mysteries far into the future, but alas I know that it is a minority opinion.
@GreenFire - I agree with you; I stopped working on particle physics and now I'm trying to use category theory to develop better networked systems.
It's good to read Tomasso Dorigo when a new particle physics experiment comes along.
"Taming systematic uncertainties down to effects of a part in ten thousand or less, for a subnuclear physics measurement, is a bit too much for my taste."
(2/n)
https://www.science20.com/tommaso_dorigo/is_the_cdf_w_mass_measurement_a_nail_in_the_sm_coffin-256017