Is it the Same Result?
Replication in Physics

Replication, the independent confirmation of experimental results and conclusions, is regarded as the “gold standard” in science. This book examines the question of successful or failed replications and demonstrates that that question is not always easy to answer. It presents clear examples of successful replications, the discoveries of the Higgs boson and of gravity waves. Failed replications include early experiments on the Fifth Force, a proposed modification of Newton’s Law of universal gravitation, and the measurements of “G,” the constant in that law. Other case studies illustrate some of the difficulties and complexities in deciding whether a replication is successful or failed. It also discusses how that question has been answered. These studies include the “discovery” of the pentaquark in the early 2000s and the continuing search for neutrinoless double beta decay. It argues that although successful replication is the goal of scientific experimentation, it is not always easily achieved.

Table of Contents

Introduction

SUCCESSFUL REPLICATIONS
The Discovery of the Higgs Boson
The Discovery of Gravity Waves
The Scattering of Antineutrons by Protons

FAILED REPLICATIONS
Is There a Fifth Force?
Is There a Universal Gravitational Constant?

PROBLEMS, LARGE AND SMALLE
Physical Constants and the Properties of Elementary Particles
Millikan’s Measurements of the Charge of the Electron
Are There Low-Mass Electron-Positron States?
The Pentaquark
Whose Neutrino Is It, Majorana’s or Dirac’s?

Conclusion

About the Author(s)

Allan Franklin, University of Colorado, Emeritus
Allan Franklin is professor of physics emeritus at the University of Colorado. He began his career as an experimental high-energy physicist and later changed his research area to history and philosophy of science, particularly on the roles of experiment. He has twice been chair of the Forum on the History of Physics of the American Physical Society and served two terms on the Executive Council of the Philosophy of Science Association. In 2016, Franklin received the Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics from the American Physical Society. He is the author of eleven books including most recently Shifting Standards: Experiments in Particle Physics in the Twentieth Century and What Makes a Good Experiment?: Reasons and Roles in Science.