There are four fundamental forces of nature, including the electromagnetic force, the strong, weak nuclear forces, and gravity, or dark matter. One should note some of these forces are clearly explained by scientists, while some still don't have a satisfying explanation for how they behave.
Some of them, such as the force of gravity, still lack a good explanation, according to advanced scientists. But away from that, it made the news that a group of scientists is currently underway to discover another force of nature. Once established, it will become the fifth force of nature.
According to scientists, the discovery has already begun, although it will still take some time for them to make a theory. Dr. Mitesh Patel, from Imperial College London, confirmed that the hunt for the fifth force of nature is underway, although they still don't have all the facts about it.
He said the upcoming discovery and the other four fundamental forces of nature still have correlation issues. "We’re talking about a fifth force because we can’t necessarily explain the behavior [in these experiments] with the four we know about," Patel said.
Experiments on a Potential Fifth Force of Nature Continue
Apparently, there are massive issues with the ongoing experiments concerning the fifth force of nature. Scientists from different research labs are compiling results, observations, and findings to detect and make an accurate theory for this force.
Furthermore, the new research on this new force explores how subatomic particles called muons move around in magnetic fields. Muons are similar to electrons but about 200 times heavier than them. Hence, these scientists are getting much insight into how they behave in magnetic fields. They already established that these new discoveries wobble while moving around magnetic fields. Still, the results in the theories are different from those in experiments.
Prof Jon Butterworth of University College London gave more insights into how muons behave when they are around magnetic fields.
"The wobbles are due to how the muon interacts with a magnetic field. They can be calculated very precisely in the standard model but that calculation involves quantum loops, with known particles appearing in those loops. If the measurements don’t line up with the prediction, that could be a sign that there is some unknown particle appearing in the loops – which could, for example, be the carrier of a fifth force," Butterworth said.
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Challenges with the New Research
Scientists have encountered some challenges while researching the new fifth force of nature. Apparently, there's uncertainty about whether the research is heading the right way or not. Scientists are concerned about not making any discoveries in the end. On the other hand, they believe if things continue to be positive, the discovery of a fifth force of nature will be made.
"If the discrepancy is confirmed, we will be sure there is something new and exciting but we won’t be sure exactly what it is. Ideally, the discrepancy would inform new theoretical ideas that would lead to new predictions – for example, of how we might find the particle that carries the new force, if that’s what it is. The final confirmation would then be building an experiment to directly discover that particle," Butterworth added.