Why the latest muon measurements are so tantalising for physics

By Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

WE TEND to think that the three biggest problems with the standard model of particle physics are how it struggles to include gravity, the absence of a good dark matter candidate and (to some of us, at least) its inadequate explanation for the cosmic acceleration/dark energy problem. Otherwise, it is heralded as an incredibly successful model of physical reality that has, over and over again, been tested and verified through experiments.

Although it seems to describe only about 5 per cent of the universe’s matter and energy content, the standard model does explain three of …