New results from the muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab have deepened the mystery of the muon anomaly.
#Muons are leptons or the cousins of electrons. They have about 200 times heavier than electrons and are highly unstable. Their mean lifetime is 2 microseconds. Because of their negative charge and quantum mechanical spin, they possess magnetic moment. So, when they pass through a magnetic field, they wobble.
Twenty years ago, scientists at Brookhaven National Lab measured the magnetic moment of muons. They found it to be quite different from the theoretical value. Now, physicists at #Fermilab have repeated the experiment with greater precision and have found that something is wrong with our current understanding of the quantum world.
There's still a probability of 1 in 40,000 that this is a statistical fluke. However, new physics might be knocking at the door!
