Zoltan Fodor Sheds Light on Fermi Lab Results: The muon’s magnetic moment fits just fine

Twenty years ago, in an experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory, physicists detected what seemed to be a discrepancy between measurements of the muon’s magnetic moment — the strength of its magnetic field — and theoretical calculations of what that measurement should be, raising the tantalizing possibility of physical particles or forces as yet undiscovered. The Fermi lab team has just announced that their precise measurement re-enforces this possibility. However, an extensive new calculation of the strength of the muon magnetic moment by an international team led by Zoltan Fodor closes the gap between theory and experimental measurements, bringing it in line with the standard model that has guided particle physics for decades. These seminal results, discussed in numerous conferences over the last 6 months and published in Nature on April 8th, 2021, have reduced the tension between theory and observations significantly, so that the muon’s magnetism is likely not mysterious at all. To achieve this result, instead of relying on experimental data, researchers simulated every aspect of their calculations from the ground up — a task that required massive supercomputing power.