On April 18th I got an update from my CERN live news app that said the following:

The LHCb experiment finds intriguing anomalies in the way some particles decay. If confirmed,
these would be a sign of new physics phenomena not predicted by the Standard Model of
particle physics. The observed signal is still of limited statistical significance, but strengthens
similar indications from earlier studies. Forthcoming data and follow-up analyses will establish
whether these hints are indeed cracks in the Standard Model or are a statistical fluctuation.

Today, in a seminar at CERN, the LHCb collaboration presented long-awaited results on a

particular decay of B0 mesons produced in collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. The Standard
Model or particle physics predicts the probability of the many possible decay modes of B0
mesons, and possible discrepancies with the data would signal new physics.

In this study, the LHCb collaboration looked at the decays of B0 mesons to an excited kaon and
a pair of electrons or muons. The muon is 200 times heavier than the electron, but on the
Standard Model its interactions are otherwise identical to those of the electron, a property
known as lepton universality. Lepton universality predicts that, up to a small and calculable
effect due to the mass difference, electron and muons should be produced with the same
probability in this specific B0 decay. LHCb finds instead that the decays involving muons occur
less often.

The rest of the article goes on to state that, If the new measurements indeed point to physics
beyond the Standard model, the larger data sample collected in Run 2 will be sufficient to obtain
these effects.

I am going to be at the LHC during Run 2.

I might be at the LHC when they discover new physics.

I might be at the LHC when physics finally pushes past the Standard Model.

When I read the article, I immediately reread it. Twice. The news contained here could be
groundbreaking in the physics world. The Standard Model is the theory that describes three of
the four fundamental forces of nature. The Standard Model is the theory of almost everything.
Since it came into its final form in the 70s, there has only been confirmation after confirmation of
the Standard Model. It has predicted everything we have found and we havent found anything it
hasnt predicted.

Until now, perhaps.

The Standard Model is unprecedented in its success. It seems like it is, well, right. Many non-
physicists see this as a triumph for physics. And it is. But it is also incredibly frustrating. If the
Standard Model is correct, then it is the end of physics. We are done.
We are not done, however. The Standard Model has yet to include gravity; we have no idea how
gravity works on quantum scales or even how it works at all. For all intents and purposes,
gravity is magic.

This is why the new data from the LHCb is so exciting. If it turns out that this decay anomaly is
indeed occurring, it means that there is a crack in the Standard Model.

A light in the dark.

A lead to follow.

Something the Standard Model doesnt predict.

Physics is all about making models and testing if they predict what we observe. The Standard
Model predicted the Higgs Boson, among countless other particles and has lead to Nobel Prizes
flowing like water to their discoverers. If a model doesnt predict an event, we remake the model
and test its accuracy by conducting experiments and looking for discrepancy. Einsteins genius
was not the atom bomb or even the confirmation of the existence of the atom. It was his theory
of General Relativity that predicted a quirk in Mercurys orbit.

Something Newton couldnt predict.

The Standard Model has predicted everything we find in the quantum world to a ridiculous
degree of accuracy. The degree of adherence of the Standard Models predictions to
experimental results is similar to measuring the distance from New York to Los Angeles.

To within the thickness of a single human hair.

When a theory is this accurate and all-encompassing, what happens next? When we cannot
disprove something when we know it is not complete, what do we do? We look for inaccuracies.
What happens when we find none? We keep trying.

We may have found one.

New physics may be on the horizon.

This hasnt happened in nearly 50 years.

And I may be at the LHC when if and when it does.

What I wrote above is who I am. I am endlessly curious, passionate, and excited to learn about
the intricacies of the natural world. The day after I heard the news, I told everyone that would
listen.
And a few who wouldnt.
I do this because I enjoy myself while doing so. I know that we are all going to die and that
afterward there will be nothing.

This is what theory predicts.

This is what experiments show.

There is no discrepancy here.

In physics, there is something known as a hidden variable. This is a value that is impossible to
observe, and finding one in your theory is often a nail in its casket. The afterlife is a hidden
variable. Any theory that predicts it fights an uphill battle as a result.

If it cant be proven or disproven,

I dont care.

Its not science.

Its not logic.

It doesnt matter to me.

I am an existentialist because it is what, logically, makes the most sense. Until you can prove
that everything has meaning, or what meaning even is,

I dont care.

I am an atheist because it is what, logically, makes the most sense. Until you can prove that a
god exists,

I dont care.

Religion in large part exists in its form in todays society because it cannot be disproven. This is
what differentiates between religion and science. I can prove or disprove science. I cant prove
or disprove religion. It is therefore not science. It therefore has no measurable impact on the
nature of todays world. If it did, we would have found it. If it did, I would be incredibly excited.

Because it isnt predicted by the Standard Model.

Some readers may be drawing parallels between the Standard Model and religion by now.
Stop that.
No.

It doesnt work that way.

Some people see physics and religion meeting in the middle to form a theory of everything. The
point of physics is to do exactly the opposite. When physics is complete, there will be no more
room for religion in peoples ideologies or in the universe in general. Physics will be able to
predict everything.

Explain everything.

Physics will be complete.

This will likely not happen in our lifetimes. Perhaps not in the lifetime of the human race. We will
probably nuke ourselves before we finish our quest to solve the universe. It is all pointless and
frivolous. There is no point. Does physics give my life meaning? No. Nothing has meaning.
Nothing matters. In a few short decades, if Im lucky, everything will be oblivion. I wont be
floating in a sea of darkness, because neither a sense of myself, the concept of darkness or
floating will exist. Many find this thought scary. I dont because I wont be around to experience it
because there will be no experience. It is a hidden variable, and not worth studying, however.
Everything that we can observe and study today, however, is what interests me. I dont have
meaning. Existence doesnt have meaning. Physics doesnt have meaning.

But boy is it fascinating.