Arts & Sciences Events
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Arts & Sciences
[PAST EVENT] Physics Colloquium
September 26, 2014
4pm - 5pm
Abstract:
The proton is not an elementary particle, it has a substructure governed by quarks and gluons. The spatial extensions of the electric charge and magnetization determine the size of the proton and its response to electromagnetic interaction.
Recently, contradicting observations have challenged our understanding of the proton. The disagreement between proton radius determinations from high-precision muonic hydrogen spectroscopy and numerous atomic hydrogen and electron scattering measurements has become known as the proton radius puzzle, which has received much attention even in public media. The puzzle has a variety of possible resolutions, including
physics beyond the Standard Model, missing conventional physics, and
errors or underestimated uncertainties in the extraction of the radius from the data. I will discuss ways that will eventually help to resolve the puzzle.
The proton is not an elementary particle, it has a substructure governed by quarks and gluons. The spatial extensions of the electric charge and magnetization determine the size of the proton and its response to electromagnetic interaction.
Recently, contradicting observations have challenged our understanding of the proton. The disagreement between proton radius determinations from high-precision muonic hydrogen spectroscopy and numerous atomic hydrogen and electron scattering measurements has become known as the proton radius puzzle, which has received much attention even in public media. The puzzle has a variety of possible resolutions, including
physics beyond the Standard Model, missing conventional physics, and
errors or underestimated uncertainties in the extraction of the radius from the data. I will discuss ways that will eventually help to resolve the puzzle.