w-2 boson experiment

[jillery]

There are three subatomic particles called W+, W-, and Z bosons.
They're extremely massive but short-lived, and so have never been
observed directly. Instead, their mass is inferred indirectly by
measuring the mass of the particles resulting from their decay, and
that complicates measuring their mass precisely.

A precise measurement of their mass is important, because they mediate
the weak nuclear force, and the Standard Model predicts what their
mass should be. So measurements that match prediction are positive
tests of the Standard Model, while measurements that significantly
vary from prediction suggest the Standard Model is incomplete.

Previous measurements of these bosons' mass had large error bars, but
recently Fermilab announced one of their teams measured their mass
with a precision of 0.01% and a statistical confidence of 7 sigma:

<https://news.fnal.gov/2022/04/cdf-collaboration-at-fermilab-announces-most-precise-ever-measurement-of-w-boson-mass/>

<https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk1781>

The following is a 10-minute video which explains why these results
need to be taken seriously:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRhAZ9M-lI8>

In the spirit of "fair and balanced, the following is an 11-minute
video which explains why Sabine Hossenfelder is skeptical of the
results and their importance:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96VECuUXbEs>

--
You're entitled to your own opinions.
You're not entitled to your own facts.

[J. J. Lodder]

Next excercise:
explain why Sabine Hossenfelder should be taken seriously,

Jan

[jillery]

Don't let me stop you.

[J. J. Lodder]

You dragged her in, you explain why you think
that she may have something of relevance to say,

Jan

[jillery]

On Tue, 10 May 2022 10:46:30 +0200, nos...@de-ster.demon.nl (J. J.

You're so cute when you have nothing intelligent to say.