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The CMS experiment has presented its first search for new physics using data from Run 3 of the Large Hadron Collider. The new study looks at the possibility of “dark photon” production in the decay of Higgs bosons in the detector.

Dark photons are exotic long-lived particles: “Long-lived” because they have an average lifetime of more than a tenth of a billionth of a second—a very long lifetime in terms of particles produced in the LHC—and “exotic” because they are not part of the standard model of particle physics.

The standard model is the leading theory of the fundamental building blocks of the universe, but many physics questions remain unanswered, and so searches for phenomena beyond the standard model continue. CMS’s new result defines more constrained limits on the parameters of the decay of Higgs bosons to dark photons, further narrowing down the area in which physicists can search for them.

The full, weird story of the quantum world is much too large for a single article, but the period from 1905, when Einstein first published his solution to the photoelectric puzzle, to the 1960’s, when a complete, well-tested, rigorous, and insanely complicated quantum theory of the subatomic world finally emerged, is quite the story.

This quantum theory would come to provide, in its own way, its own complete and total revision of our understanding of light. In the quantum picture of the subatomic world, what we call the electromagnetic force is really the product of countless microscopic interactions, the work of indivisible photons, who interact in mysterious ways. As in, literally mysterious. The quantum framework provides no picture as to how subatomic interactions actually proceed. Rather, it merely gives us a mathematical toolset for calculating predictions. And so while we can only answer the question of how photons actually work with a beleaguered shrug, we are at least equipped with some predictive power, which helps assuage the pain of quantum incomprehensibility.

Continue reading “Why Quantum Mechanics Defies Physics” »

Kmele steps inside Fermilab, America’s premiere particle accelerator facility, to find out how the smallest particles in the universe can teach us about its biggest mysteries.\
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This video is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the @JohnTempletonFoundation.\
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Watch the full podcast now ► • Dispatches from The Well \
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According to Fermilab’s Bonnie Flemming, the pursuit of scientific understanding is “daunting in an inspiring way.” What makes it daunting? The seemingly infinite number of questions, with their potentially inaccessible answers.\
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In this episode of Dispatches from The Well, host Kmele Foster tours the grounds of America’s legendary particle accelerator to discover how exploring the mysteries at the heart of particle physics help us better understand some of the most profound mysteries of our universe.\
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Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/the-well/dispatc…\
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00:00:00 — The Miracle of Birth\
00:04:48 — Exploring the Universe’s Mysteries\
00:09:20 — Building Blocks of Matter and the Standard Model\
00:13:35 — The Evolving Body of Knowledge\
00:17:39 — Understanding the Early Universe\
00:22:05 — Reflections on Particle Physics\
00:25:34 — The Extraordinary Effort to Understand the Small\
00:29:59 — From Paleontology to Astrophysics\
00:33:40 — The Importance of the Scientific Method and Being Critical\
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About Kmele Foster:\
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Kmele Foster is a media entrepreneur, commentator, and regular contributor to various national publications. He is the co-founder and co-host of The Fifth Column, a popular media criticism podcast.\
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He is the head of content at Founders Fund, a San Francisco based venture capital firm investing in companies building revolutionary technologies, and a partner at Freethink, a digital media company focused on the people and ideas changing our world.\
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Kmele also serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).\
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Read more from The Well: \
Actually, neuroscience suggests “the self” is real\
► https://bigthink.com/the-well/actuall…\
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein can illuminate the debate over generative AI\
► https://bigthink.com/the-well/mary-sh…\
Few of us desire true equality. It’s time to own up to it\
► https://bigthink.com/the-well/few-des…\
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About The Well\
Do we inhabit a multiverse? Do we have free will? What is love? Is evolution directional? There are no simple answers to life’s biggest questions, and that’s why they’re the questions occupying the world’s brightest minds.\
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Together, let’s learn from them.\
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Continue reading “Finding meaning at the quantum level” »

Scientific bodies are due to make an official decision in the coming year about whether to declare a new geochronological unit precipitated by the impact of humans on Earth.

By Alex Wilkins

New archaeological research reveals that the sea off northwestern Australia once had islands and a massive landmass. This area was so large it could support around half a million people, as reported in a study published in Quaternary Science Review.

The study maps a world that appeared and then disappeared as sea levels changed over the past seventy thousand years. People are believed to have migrated to this part of the world between forty-five thousand to sixty-five thousand years ago.

The area was part of a paleocontinent called Sahul, connecting Australia to New Guinea. The submersion of this land might have led to significant cultural and population changes in northern Australia.

The science of predicting chaotic systems lies at the intriguing intersection of physics and computer science. This field delves into understanding and forecasting the unpredictable nature of systems where small initial changes can lead to significantly divergent outcomes. It’s a realm where the butterfly effect reigns supreme, challenging the traditional notions of predictability and order.

Central to the challenge in this domain is the unpredictability inherent in chaotic systems. Forecasting these systems is complex due to their sensitive dependence on initial conditions, making long-term predictions highly challenging. Researchers strive to find methods that can accurately anticipate the future states of such systems despite the inherent unpredictability.

Prior approaches in chaotic system prediction have largely centered around domain-specific and physics-based models. These models, informed by an understanding of the underlying physical processes, have been the traditional tools for tackling the complexities of chaotic systems. However, their effectiveness is often limited by the intricate nature of the systems they attempt to predict.

TSMC mulls A14, A10 process technologies in the next few years.

Recent Gaia satellite findings suggest that dwarf galaxies are transient and less influenced by dark matter than previously believed, challenging long-held assumptions about their nature and composition.

Commonly thought to be long-lived satellites of our galaxy, a new study now finds indications that most dwarf galaxies might in fact be destroyed soon after their entry into the Galactic halo. Thanks to the latest catalog from ESA’s Gaia satellite, an international team has now demonstrated that dwarf galaxies might be out of equilibrium. The study opens important questions on the standard cosmological model, particularly on the prevalence of dark matter in our nearest environment.

Continue reading “Redefining Cosmic Norms: Dwarf Galaxies and the Dark Matter Enigma” »