4 ms·

Not a prediction, but comparison with previous work: Accepted value [1]: µ = 2.792847351 ± 0.000000009 New value: µ = 2.79284734462 ± 0.0000000

• contravariant 9y ago
  This is a case when it's convenient to use the following notation: Accepted value: µ = 2.792847351(9) New value: µ = 2.79284734462(82)
  • amelius 9y ago
    What's that notation called, and how does it work when digits overlap, e.g. in 0.123±0.004
    • evanb 9y ago
      In your example one writes 0.123(4). I don't know what the notation is called, but it's discussed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty#Measurements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty#Measurements
      • amelius 9y ago
        Makes sense, thanks.
• geertj 9y ago
  Nice that the new interval completely lies within the old. I remember from college that there was an important physical constant where a new, more precise measurement was pretty far outside the range of the previous best measurement. I don't remember which one..
  • eru 9y ago
    I think the story was that the first experiment was borked but done by someone famous, so the new experimenters didn't want to disagree too much.
    • semantics 9y ago
      This happened (allegedly) with the the Millikan oil drop experiment[0] which measured the charge of the electron. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_drop_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_drop_experiment
  • evanb 9y ago
    Depending on when you went to college, you may be thinking of the proton radius puzzle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_radius_puzzle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_radius_puzzle which (to gloss over an enormous amount of detail) amounts to tension between two different ways of measuring the same property of the proton.
    • ISL 9y ago
      Other possibilities: Neutron lifetime, Newton's constant (twice!)