Saturday, January 7, 2012

What if scientists discover the Standard Model is an illusion

AFTER a short spell on the rocks, a mathematically elegant view of the universe is back in vogue. Recent hints of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider help explain why we have not seen evidence for the beautiful theory of supersymmetry yet - and point to fresh ways to focus the search.

Supersymmetry, or SUSY, is an extension to the standard model of how particles and forces interact. Via elegant equations, it posits that every fundamental particle - including quarks, electrons, photons and neutrinos - has a heavier, as yet unseen "superpartner" with slightly different properties (see diagram). This smooths some embarrassing wrinkles in the standard model. However, not one superpartner has yet shown up at the LHC, the particle smasher at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, prompting fears that, despite its beauty, SUSY could be wrong. New Scientist

They find instead, that the the arrangements are simply the result of a Fibonacci sequences implementing optimal flow.

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