Scientists are about to test Einstein’s gravity with exotic matter

Scientists have found a new way to create a controlled beam of muonium, an exotic atom containing a heavier cousin of the electron. The advance could allow researchers to test for the first time whether gravity acts on second-generation particles exactly as Einstein’s theory predicts. Any unexpected difference would be a major surprise and could potentially point toward new physics, including a hypothetical fifth force.

Scientists are about to test Einstein’s gravity with exotic matter. Com Does gravity affect every type of particle in exactly the same way. Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen are preparing an experiment that could test that fundamental assumption using one of nature’s more unusual particles.

"We have taken an important step towards carrying out an exciting experiment on this topic," says the professor of physics: "We want to measure the gravitational interaction of the muon." The familiar matter that makes up people, planets, and nearly everything around us consists of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Physicists classify these particles as belonging to the first generation of matter. Two additional generations also exist, made up of heavier particles.