Hopes Are Fading Fast for Possible New Particle at the LHC

hearsay are swirling again among physicist , but this time they ’re not about gravitational undulation . or else , hopes are fading thattwo separate , butcomplementary , experiments at the Large Hadron Collider may have discovered a possible new particle .

Last December , LHC physicistsannounced that they ’d foundtantalizing trace of an exotic particle not predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics — perhaps a heavier full cousin of the Higgs boson , or the elusive graviton , a quantum carrier of the force of sobriety . Neither cover finding was unanimous enough to take discovery , but both experiments describe hints of a sign in on the button the same spot in the data , which was promising .

At the time , I ( and others)cautioned thatit was probable that those confidential information of a signal would vanish as more data was added to the analytical mixture :

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

Physicists know just how many of each type of particle they should expect to see in the data ; any excess above a certain doorstep is a hopeful hint of possible Modern physics ( like a new particle ) .

When all ’s said and done , those signal show up as unexpected “ bumps ” in the data — that ’s why experimental particle physicist often call themselves “ encounter hunter . ” The thing is , it ’s easy to see small “ jut ” that are n’t really there ; statistical artifacts crop up all the metre , in particular during early data runs . The more data you have , the best the statistical depth psychology . If a small “ bump ” persists and let bigger — the sign gets hard — it ’s much more probable that it ’s the signature of a bona fide fresh particle .

The LHC began analyzing net ton of new data in May . Unfortunately , Science News is reportingthat it ’s looking like the former case — a statistical artefact — is the more likely scenario . That ’s according to rumors on Twitter andon twophysicsblogs . Noting that the field of force is fast set about a crucial juncture , physicist Peter Woit save , “ If the bump is there , the field will be revolutionized and dominated by this for years , if it ’s not , we ’re back to the usual frustrating swot . ”

William Duplessie

rumour : 750 GeV diphoton bump is go off as more information is collected by LHC . Most likely , excess seen in 2015 was just statistical fluke .

— Jester ( @Resonaances)June 21 , 2016

The official stance is that we ca n’t be certain until all the information is in subsequently this summer . “ Currently the data are still being record and analyzed and it is too early to conclude , ” Beate Heinemann of the University of California , Berkeley , and deputy spokesperson for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC , told Science News . “ We go for to be able-bodied topresent the fresh datain early August , ” during a high vigor physics group discussion ( ICHEP 2016 ) in Chicago .

Starship Test 9