It is endlessly entertaining to root for a team. Sports teams are extraordinarily popular worldwide, with top NBA, NFL, soccer/football players, etc. receiving contracts in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Many physicists are loyal to sports teams, but most also follow their favorite physical models (e.g. supersymmetry or the standard model) just as closely as the most intense of football fanatics. But when new results from experiments are published, they sometimes suggest elimination of a model (or several) from the "playoffs" that are leading up to what could one day prove to be a Theory of Everything. The release of the latest data from the LHC's ATLAS and CMS experiments is one such occurrence.
The world of particle physics research relies heavily on statistics; the rules of quantum mechanics dictate that we cannot be completely certain of any outcomes, so we need repeated tests and incredible amounts of data in order to be "statistically confident" of anything. The recently-published results are thus works-in-progress, but if they are shown to be more than the odd statistical anomaly, they could suggest that a model close to supersymmetry is likely.
This model predicts the existence of a particle called the radion (φ), which would influence the statistics of the particles produced in the collisions performed at the LHC in a way consistent with the aforementioned results. The energy range (also a measure of mass, think E=mc2) of 124-126 GeV in which ATLAS and CMS suggest a particle may exist are also within the bounds of the theoretical energy of the radion.
What is yet more exciting than the boost that theory would receive is the theory it would rule out: the standard model. This model has been, well, standard for decades. It's as if the Patriots had won several Super Bowls in a row, with only a couple other teams making it to the playoffs every year. Then, in a sudden upset, they were overtaken by the Raiders. Everyone (except the hypothetical Pats fans) sees this as one of the most exciting seasons ever, and an opportunity to learn completely new offensive/defensive strategies (physical laws).
We could be entering an enthralling time for physics fans the world around. I certainly hope this is the case.
via [Ars Technica] Hiding in the Higgs data: hints of physics beyond the standard model
