News Physics

The standard model of particle physics passed one of its strictest tests yet

Electrons’ magnetism confirms particle physics’ most precise prediction

A red and blue magnet bar on a background of metal shavings with the nearby shavings attracted to the ends of the magnet.

Electrons each behave like a tiny version of a bar magnet (shown), with their own magnetic field. A new measurement characterizes the electron’s magnetism more precisely than ever before.

TEK IMAGE/Science Photo Library/Getty Images Plus

By Emily Conover

No one has ever probed a particle more stringently than this.

In a new experiment, scientists measured a magnetic property of the electron more carefully than ever before, making the most precise measurement of any property of an elementary particle, ever.