Will experimental anomalies lead to new physics?

A proton: two up quarks and one down quark

Historical anomalies in physics

It is often said that experimental anomalies lead to new physics. This is actually a bit overstated. Actually, the vast majority of experimental anomalies turn out to have more prosaic explanations — errors in the experimental setup or analysis, or errors stemming from invalid applications of the theory.

Nonetheless, a few experimental anomalies in years past have led to important new advances in the field. A few examples are:

In 1887, Michelson and Morley compared the speed light in two perpendicular directions, hoping to measure the

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Amateur mathematician makes key advance in classic graph theory problem

Introduction

In a curious turn of events, British biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey, a well-known author and Chief Science Officer of the SENS Research Foundation, which is devoted to “reversing the negative effects of aging” and “significantly extending the human lifespan,” has made a significant advance in a 60-year-old graph theory problem.

Needless to say, in this day and age when almost all frontier-level mathematical research requires substantial training and, regrettably, specialization, it is not very often that an person without graduate-level formal training in mathematics, and whose professional life is focused almost entirely in a completely different field, makes a

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