First measurement of proton's weak charge provides no surprises

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.gizmag.com/first-measurement-proton-weak-interaction-charge/29169/","20131003030737","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1380769657"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <title>First measurement of proton's weak charge provides no surprises</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/> <meta name="robots" content="index,follow"/> <meta name="description" content="Researchers at the USDOE's Jefferson Accelerator Laboratory have measured the weak charge of the proton for the first time. 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Early results from the Q-Weak experiment find the weak charge of the proton and the neutron to be consistent with predictions of the Standard Model."></div></div> <div class="as_button"><script type="IN/Share" data-counter="top"></script></div> <div class="as_button" id="reddit_button_rail"><script type="text/javascript">reddit_newwindow='1'</script></div> <div class="as_button" id="email_a_friend_rail"><span class="email_a_friend">Email</span></div> </div> <div id="hero_box" style="width: 530px;"> <a id="hero_link" href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/first-measurement-proton-weak-interaction-charge/29169/pictures"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/first-measurement-protons-weak-interaction-charge-surprises.jpg" title="A schematic drawing of the Q-Weak experiment, showing how the scattered electrons are anal..." width="530" height="298" alt="A schematic drawing of the Q-Weak experiment, showing how the scattered electrons are anal..."/></a> <div class="pic_caption"> <p>A schematic drawing of the Q-Weak experiment, showing how the scattered electrons are analyzed and measured (NIST)</p> <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/first-measurement-proton-weak-interaction-charge/29169/pictures" id="gallery_link">Image Gallery</a> (3 images) </div> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div class="article_body"> <div id="top_unit"></div> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> <p>An international team of researchers at the US Department of Energy's Jefferson Accelerator Laboratory in Virginia has measured the weak charge of the proton for the first time. Although first measurements of fundamental quantities always raise the hope of observing new physics, early results from the Q-Weak experiment find the weak charge of the proton and the neutron to be consistent with predictions of the Standard Model. Analysis of additional data will help pin down this result.</p> <p>The well-named <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737/http://www.particleadventure.org/weak.html" target="_blank">weak interaction</a> between particles is so weak that <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/km3net-mediterranean-neutrino-observatory/20872/" target="_blank">neutrinos</a> (particles that interact only through the weak interaction and gravity) pass easily through a light-year of lead without interacting with any of the lead nuclei.</p> <p>Particles have a weak charge, analogous to the electric charge, that describes a particle's propensity to have weak interactions with other particles. This weak charge is predicted by the Standard Model to be about -0.989 for neutrons and about <u>+</u> 0.071 for protons (+) and electrons (-), as measured in elementary charges.</p> <p>The weak interaction allows particle-particle interactions that violate parity, a symmetry closely related to mirror symmetry. As none of the other fundamental interactions violate this symmetry, an experimental handle is thereby provided with which to separate out weak interaction effects which would otherwise be swamped by stronger effects from the other interactions.</p> <p>This can be seen clearly in Chien-Shiung Wu's beta-decay experiment, carried out in 1956, that first directly demonstrated violation of parity symmetry in weak interactions. Beta decay of a radioactive nucleus occurs when a neutron changes into a proton. This type of decay occurs through weak interactions.</p> <div style="width: 529px; height: 233px; " class="article_img"><a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/first-measurement-proton-weak-interaction-charge/29169/pictures#1" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/first-measurement-protons-weak-interaction-charge-surprises-0.jpg" width="529" alt="Chien-Shiung-Wu's groundbreaking demonstration that weak interactions violate mirror symme..."/></a></div> <p>Wu's experiment looked at the angular distribution of electrons produced by beta-decay of cobalt-60. The beta rays (electrons) are generated by the weak interaction, while the gamma rays are generated by the electromagnetic interaction. It had already been demonstrated that electromagnetic interactions conserve parity, so if there appeared any difference in the angular distribution of the gamma rays and of the beta rays, it would be a clear sign that parity had been violated. When Professor Wu carried out the experiment, she observed a huge difference between the distribution of the beta and gamma rays, demonstrating that the weak interaction violates parity in a big way.</p> <div style="width: 529px; height: 384px; " class="article_img"><a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/first-measurement-proton-weak-interaction-charge/29169/pictures#2" target="_blank"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737im_/http://images.gizmag.com/inline/first-measurement-protons-weak-interaction-charge-surprises-1.jpg" width="529" alt="The Q-Weak experimental apparatus at Jefferson Accelerator Laboratory (Photo: NIST)"/></a></div> <p>The recent Q-Weak experiment determines the weak charge of the proton by analyzing the scattering of a beam of polarized electrons from the nuclei of a liquid hydrogen target. The tricky bit is that electrons and protons (the hydrogen nuclei) interact through the electromagnetic interaction far more strongly than through the weak interaction, at least until particles are only separated by an attometer (10<sp>-18</sup> m) or so. As a result, most of the scattering observed is due to electromagnetic forces.</p> <p>Only that part of the scattering caused by the weak interactions will violate parity. In this case, that is about one in five million – clearly not something you can observe with the unaided eye. The Q-Weak experiment seeks to isolate this tiny portion for analysis by reversing the polarization of the electron beam. Reversing the polarization produces exactly the same average electromagnetic scattering, but the weak interaction scattering is reversed in momentum. Given large enough numbers of electrons scattering off hydrogen protons, the weak signal can be isolated statistically, and its magnitude measured with a good deal of accuracy.</p> <p>The results just announced are preliminary, only taking into account four percent of the total amount of data obtained in the experiment. However, that is sufficient to establish an experimental value for the weak charge of the proton of 0.064 <u>+</u> 0.012 elementary charges. This is sufficiently accurate to also set the neutron's weak charge at -0.975 <u>+</u> 0.010. Both numbers are quite consistent with the Standard Model predictions of 0.071 and -0.989. When the entire data base is examined, these charges should be set experimentally to better than five percent, a remarkable accuracy for the first measurement of such a difficult constant.</p> <p>What about new physics? At the moment, there is still room for a significant deviation between the predicted and measured weak charge of the proton, but that result would require rather special behavior of the remaining data, so it seems unlikely. The most likely result appears to be that the Standard Model does a very good job in predicting weak charges of elementary and composite particles.</p> <p>The surprising part of this conclusion, if it survives the onslaught of more data, is that we know that the treatment of weak interactions in the Standard Model is, if not simply wrong, rather incomplete. Neutrinos are predicted to have no mass, whereas it is well known from observation of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/fermilab-neutrino-beam/28967/" target="_blank">neutrino oscillations</a> that they must have a mass (albeit a tiny one). There are modifications of the Standard Model to add this property in by brute force, but these are in the long run unsatisfactory. At present, though, it appears that the weak charges of particles is not where the Standard Model breaks down. Hopefully that elusive Achilles' heel will soon be discovered.</p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737/https://www.jlab.org/news/releases/protons-weak-charge-determined-first-time" target="_blank">Jefferson Accelerator Laboratory</a></p>    <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737js_/http://static.fmpub.net/zone/7980"></script> <div id="bottom_unit"> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737js_/http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </div> </div> <span class="title share_bar">Share</span> <div id="article_share_bar" class="dotsontop share_bar"> <div class="as_button fb_as_button"><div class="fb-like" data-href="http://www.gizmag.com/first-measurement-proton-weak-interaction-charge/29169/" data-send="false" data-layout="box_count" data-show-faces="false"></div><script type="text/javascript">_ga.trackFacebook();</script></div> <div class="as_button"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737/http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="vertical" data-via="gizmag">Tweet</a></div> <div class="as_button"><div class="g-plusone" data-size="tall" data-href="http://www.gizmag.com/first-measurement-proton-weak-interaction-charge/29169/"></div></div> <div class="as_button"><iframe style="overflow: hidden; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737if_/http://badge.stumbleupon.com/badge/embed/5/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gizmag.com%2Ffirst-measurement-proton-weak-interaction-charge%2F29169%2F" width="50" height="60" id="iframe-stmblpn-widget-2"></iframe></div> <div class="as_button"><div class="pin-it-button" data-url="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737oe_/http://www.gizmag.com/first-measurement-proton-weak-interaction-charge/29169/" data-image="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/first-measurement-protons-weak-interaction-charge-surprises.jpg" data-description="Researchers at the USDOE's Jefferson Accelerator Laboratory have measured the weak charge of the proton for the first time. Early results from the Q-Weak experiment find the weak charge of the proton and the neutron to be consistent with predictions of the Standard Model."></div></div> <div class="as_button"><script type="IN/Share" data-counter="top"></script></div> <div class="as_button" id="reddit_button_bar"><script type="text/javascript">reddit_newwindow='1'</script></div> <div class="as_button" id="email_a_friend_bar"><span class="email_a_friend">Email</span></div> </div>  <span class="title clear_left" id="author_byline_title">About the Author</span> <div class="dotsontop" id="authorcontainer">  <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/author/brian-dodson/"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737im_/http://images.gizmag.com/author_profiles/164.jpg" alt="Brian Dodson" id="bio_pic"/> </a>   From an early age Brian wanted to become a scientist. He did, earning a Ph.D. in physics and embarking on an R&D; career which has recently broken the 40th anniversary. What he didn't expect was that along the way he would become a patent agent, a rocket scientist, a gourmet cook, a biotech entrepreneur, an opera tenor and a science writer.   <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/author/brian-dodson/">All articles by Brian Dodson</a> <span id="author_byline_links">   </span> <br class="clear_both"> </div>  <div id="tags"> <span class="title">Tags</span> <div class="dotsontop"> <ul> <li>» <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/nuclear/" rel="tag">Nuclear</a></li> <li>» <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/particle-physics/" rel="tag">Particle physics</a></li> <li>» <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/physics/" rel="tag">Physics</a></li> <li>» <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/standard-model/" rel="tag">The Standard Model</a></li> <li>» <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/tag/us-department-of-energy/" rel="tag">US Department of Energy</a></li> </ul> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> </div> <div id="bing_unit"></div>  <span class="title" id="comments">1 Comment</span> <div class="dotsontop"> <div id="comment-259669" class="a_comment"> <p>I'm still picking up pieces of my brain splattered on the wall after contemplating a "light year of lead"... </p> <span class="name">warren52nz</span><br> <span class="date"> 30th September, 2013 @ 03:19 pm PDT</span> </div> </div> <span class="title">Post a Comment</span> <div class="dotsontop" id="comment_form_div"> <div id="comment_form" data-article="29169"> <div id="comments_login"> <form action="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/index.php" name="login_form" id="login_form" onsubmit="return false;"> <p class="bold">Login with your gizmag account:</p> <p id="login_status"></p> <label for="email">Email</label><input type="text" name="email" id="email" value=""/> <label for="password">Password</label><input type="password" name="password" id="password" value=""/> <input type="submit" value="Log In" class="med"/> <div id="options"> <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/register/">Register here</a><br> <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/new_password/">Forgotten your password?</a> </div> <input type="hidden" id="expired_comment" value=""/> </form> </div> <div id="facebook_login"> <p>Or <span class="bold">Login with Facebook:</span></p><br/> <div class="fb-login-button" data-scope="email" data-max-rows="1" data-onlogin="loginFUser(29169);" data-autologoutlink="true"></div> </div> </div> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div>  <span class="title">Related Articles</span> <div id="related_articles" class="dotsontop"> <ul> <li> <a href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/higgs-boson-cern-alternative-particle/23319/" title="Artist's impression of a proton-proton collision producing a pair of gamma rays (yellow) i..."> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20131003030737im_/http://images.gizmag.com/related/higgs-boson-cern-alternative-particle.jpg" alt="Artist's impression of a proton-proton collision producing a pair of gamma rays (yellow) i..."/> </a> <a class="rel_title" href="/web/20131003030737/http://www.gizmag.com/higgs-boson-cern-alternative-particle/23319/">Is it or isn't it? 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First measurement of proton's weak charge provides no surprises