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Physics: Proton radius smaller than believed, European scientists say
LA Times ^ | July 7, 2010 | Thomas H. Maugh II

Posted on 07/07/2010 9:06:34 PM PDT by smokingfrog

Sophisticated measurements from experiments indicate the radius is 4% smaller than thought. If true, the finding could have major ramifications for the standard model used in modern physics.

Physicists might have to rethink what they know about, well, everything.

European researchers dropped a potential bombshell on their colleagues around the world Wednesday by reporting that sophisticated new measurements indicate the radius of the proton is 4% smaller than previously believed.

In a world where measurements out to a dozen or more decimal places are routine, a 4% difference in this subatomic particle — found in every atom's nucleus — is phenomenally large, and the finding has left theoreticians scratching their heads in wonderment and confusion.

If the startling results are confirmed, a possibility that at least some physicists think is unlikely because the calculations involved are so difficult, they could have major ramifications for the so-called standard model on which most modern physics is based.

In an editorial accompanying the report in the journal Nature, physicist Jeff Flowers of the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, England, said there were three possibilities: Either the experimenters have made a mistake, the calculations used in determining the size of the proton are wrong or, potentially most exciting and disturbing, the standard model has some kind of problem.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: physics; proton; protonradius; protons; science; standardmodel; stringtheory
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To: Army Air Corps

Thanks for see through the fog, and gleaning the important facts that have world wide impact! ROFLMAO


21 posted on 07/07/2010 9:25:50 PM PDT by J Edgar
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To: Hoodat

Actually, I don’t think they do. But the amount of space it takes up is spherical because it moves at high speed. It’s actually a wave. If that doesn’t make sense to you, it’s because it shouldn’t. Any attempt to relate the nature of subatomic particles is pure metaphor, and I’d be lying if I told you I understood it.


22 posted on 07/07/2010 9:26:32 PM PDT by dangus
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To: 50cal Smokepole
Look again, you may find the Schrödinger’s zombie cat.
23 posted on 07/07/2010 9:26:37 PM PDT by Moose Burger
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To: smokingfrog

it’s probably shrinking due to global warming. obviously this is Bush’s fault.


24 posted on 07/07/2010 9:26:46 PM PDT by madamemayhem (defeat isn't getting knocked down, it's not getting back up)
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To: smokingfrog
Here's a picture of the universe 3.1E-13 seconds after the big bang:


25 posted on 07/07/2010 9:26:57 PM PDT by dr_who
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To: Hoodat
Why do they assume that a proton is spherical?

Why do people believe the Earth is round?

26 posted on 07/07/2010 9:28:22 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: shibumi; sionnsar; Robert A. Cook, PE
"Just wait 'till they figure out it isn't really there at all!"

It makes up for what it lacks by having a positive attitude.

27 posted on 07/07/2010 9:28:36 PM PDT by NicknamedBob (Lewis Caroll asked, "How is a raven like a writing desk?" My answer: "They both have plumes of ink.")
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To: Hoodat

It’s a quantum particle, it can be any shape you want it to be.


28 posted on 07/07/2010 9:28:46 PM PDT by lefty-lie-spy (Stay metal. For the Horde \m/("_")\m/ - via iPhone from Tokyo.)
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To: coloradan; Hoodat
(By the way, even ellipses and prolate and oblate spheroids have radii.)

Yeah... well, nobody's perfect.

One day there will be a cure.

29 posted on 07/07/2010 9:30:43 PM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The Last Boy Scout)
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To: Captain Beyond; AdmSmith; bvw; callisto; ckilmer; dandelion; ganeshpuri89; gobucks; KevinDavis; ...
Thanks Captain Beyond. Admit it -- we all thought the Proton was hiding something.

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30 posted on 07/07/2010 9:34:25 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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To: tet68

Yeah, that’s what they all say.


31 posted on 07/07/2010 9:34:52 PM PDT by bgill (how could a young man born here in Kenya, who is not even a native American, become the POTUS)
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To: UCANSEE2
"Why do people believe the Earth is round?"

It is a well-known fact that it has a lot of surface tension.

32 posted on 07/07/2010 9:35:03 PM PDT by NicknamedBob (Lewis Caroll asked, "How is a raven like a writing desk?" My answer: "They both have plumes of ink.")
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To: shibumi

‘The proton finding won’t impact most people’s daily lives.”

Like hell it won’t.

I’m emotionally devastated.

I’ll *never* be the same again.


33 posted on 07/07/2010 9:36:46 PM PDT by Salamander (If I'm too rough, tell me.......I'm so scared your little head will come off in my hands......)
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To: smokingfrog

Atomic spectroscopy measures transitions of the electrons between orbits in the atom, and does not depend on the details of structure of the proton.


34 posted on 07/07/2010 9:38:15 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: lefty-lie-spy

OK, so electrons are fundamental, but a few quarks can still be any shape you want them to be.


35 posted on 07/07/2010 9:40:03 PM PDT by lefty-lie-spy (Stay metal. For the Horde \m/("_")\m/ - via iPhone from Tokyo.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Maybe Proton's PR people need to contact Algore’s PR people and they can hook him up and get an extended, enlarged, airbrushed cover on Rolling Stone Mag to help out with this. Or Proton could just contact Jimmy Johnson and get some free Extends Pills.
36 posted on 07/07/2010 9:44:26 PM PDT by Captain Beyond (The Hammer of the gods! (Just a cool line from a Led Zep song))
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To: smokingfrog

A proton at rest can be shaped like a ball — the expected shape and the only one described in physics textbooks. Or it can be shaped like a peanut, like a rugby ball or even something similar to a bagel.

37 posted on 07/07/2010 9:49:44 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( - Eccl. 10:18 -)
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To: SunkenCiv

Dooooodness!

That must have required a VERY tiny micrometer!


38 posted on 07/07/2010 9:50:31 PM PDT by Quix (THE PLAN of the Bosses: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2519352/posts?page=2#2)
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To: UCANSEE2

This is proof that we are really living in a hollow sphere and the blinky light thingy’s and the Sun and Moon are just attached to the rotating ceiling.


39 posted on 07/07/2010 9:51:10 PM PDT by coon2000 (Give me Liberty or give me death!)
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To: Salamander
I'd really, really like to meet the one person whose daily life is impacted by a finding about proton size.

Maybe it's this person ...


40 posted on 07/07/2010 9:54:30 PM PDT by shibumi ( "Tsuru no Sugomori")
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