Ideas from beyond the standard model of particle physics, including technicolor and glueball Higgs particles, could explain the recent shock finding that the W boson is heavier than we thought
Physics
2 May 2022
Could an extra Higgs boson or dark matter explain the surprisingly high mass of the W boson? Shutterstock / Andrey VP
On 7 April, researchers announced results from the now-defunct Tevatron collider in Illinois finding that the mass of the W boson is higher than the standard model of particle physics predicts – a shockingly solid measurement that could demand new physics. Ideas to explain it have already begun flowing in earnest.
The W boson is one of the particles that carries the weak nuclear force in the same way that a photon carries electromagnetic force. …
