4 ms·

Mystery signal at Fermilab hints at 'technicolour' force

• logic 16y ago
  This really sticks with me: "There's no version of a Higgs in any model that I know of where the production rate would be this large," says Lane. "It has to be something else." And Lane is confident that he knows exactly what it is. Just over 20 years ago, Lane, along with Fermilab physicist Estia Eichten, predicted that experiments would see just such a signal. Lane and Eichten were working on a theory known as technicolour, which proposes the existence of a fifth fundamental force in addition to the four already known: gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. 20 years or longer to find out whether your theory bears fruit. In technology, we barely look beyond the next two years because of how rapidly things change, let alone dedicating decades to chasing down a very specific idea spawned early in one's career. I imagine the folks over at CDF are pretty high on this result right now. Here's hoping this bodes well for Fermilab's ability to secure funding for continued operations this year.