What is Fifth Force of Nature? See how was it discovered and more

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Fermilab situated near Chicago have claimed to have discovered a new force or the fifth force of nature. If proven, this may be the beginning of a new revolution in physics and could prove to be the most significant discovery after Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.

The entire universe is governed by four forces- gravity, electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong force. Now, scientists claim to have found a new force or the fifth force.

In an experiment called ‘g-2’ or ‘g minus 2’ at Fermilab, the researchers accelerated sub-atomic particles called muons through a 50-meter diameter ring and circulated these particles 1,000 times at near light speed and found that these particles did not behave the way they should. Their behaviour cannot be explained by the current theory called the Standard Model because these particles were under the influence of a new force.

Muons are electron-like sub-atomic particles that orbit atoms, but they are 200 times bigger. In the experiment, they were made to wobble using superconducting magnets. But they wobbled faster than predicted by the Standard Model. This might be caused by a new force or the fifth force.

The scientists at Europe’s Large Hydron Collider are also trying to find flaws in the Standard Model. Dr. Mitesh Patel from Imperial College London is one of those thousands of scientists who are working at the LHC, trying to find experimental results showing the flaws in the Standard Model.

He told BBC News that measuring behaviour that does not comply with the