Re:Intriguing new result from the LHCb experiment at CERN
by lokimedes on Monday March 29, 2021 @01:48AM
(#26618081)
5 sigma is the customary limit for claiming “discovery” of a new phenomenon. Whereas 3 sigma is the normal exclusion limit. Meaning that in a search for a new phenomenon the fluctuation from the expected background measurements must be more than 3 sigma away to claim that the null hypothesis is valid. So if that can’t be claimed the reverse may be “evidence of” new physics.
You can basically decode a particle physics article by keywording “search for”, “evidence for” and “discovery of” respectively.
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Re:Intriguing new result from the LHCb experiment at CERN
by gpderetta on Monday March 29, 2021 @10:33AM
(#26622213)
5 sigma is a rule of thumb and it still needs to be qualified. IIRC, while the Higgs discovery was officially announced when the signal reached 5 sigma, most scientists in the field were already comfortable talking about a discovery well before that threshold as there were very high expectations (a prior I guess?) that the Higgs had to be there.
On the other hand, almost nobody believed the FTL Neutrino incident was real even if the signal was stronger than 5 sigma. Extraordinary claims still require extraordinary evidence.
IANP and everything.