Adrian ChoA property of positronium—an exotic atom consisting of an electron bound to its antimatter partner, a positron—differs significantly from theoretical predictions, a team of physicists reports.
That difference could be a sign of new particles or phenomena beyond physicists’ standard model of fundamental forces and particles—the kind of result typically accompanied by a feverish press release.
Yet, not only did the researchers issue no press release, their paper makes no mention of new physics.“It’s very exciting,” says Gregory Adkins, a theorist at Franklin & Marshall College who works on positronium. “To find a discrepancy signifies that this is an interesting system to pursue.”But physics is littered with tantalizing claims that.