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Why Scientists Are Talking About a Revolution
Physics looked in danger of stagnation. That might be about to change.
Recent weeks have seen a flurry of excitement in the world of particle physics. Two experiments — one in America, one in Europe — have strengthened earlier signs of unexplained physics. Though neither set of results is yet strong enough to claim a certain discovery, physicists seem reasonably confident more evidence will arrive before long.
This is big news for particle physicists. The field has long looked in danger of stagnation. The current fundamental theory — neatly summed up as the “standard model” — works almost perfectly, but has some gaping holes. Those holes, which include things like gravity and dark matter, indicate that the theory is probably wrong somewhere.
Quite where, though, has remained elusive. Outside of those gaps, the standard model has been remarkably successful. The things it describes — fundamental particles like quarks and electrons — behave exactly as it predicts. The things it can’t explain — black holes, gravitons and big bangs — are hard to measure in a laboratory.
Two decades ago physicists were convinced that more powerful experiments would reveal its weaknesses. In anticipation, theorists went wild. They came up with dozens of theories, from…
