Two phasors turn on the top clock: momentum (blue) at the cyclotron frequency ωc = qB/(γm), and spin (orange) at ωs = ωc + ωa, where ωa = a·qB/m is set by the anomaly a = (g−2)/2. If a were exactly zero (g = 2, the Dirac value), the two phasors would stay perfectly locked forever. QED loop corrections push a slightly above zero for the muon, so the spin phasor slowly outpaces the momentum phasor — drag anywhere on the clock face to set their initial phase offset φ₀ and watch the drift unfold from there.
ω_c = qB / (γm) cyclotron (momentum) rotation
ω_a = a · qB / m anomalous precession
N(t) = N0 · e^(−t/τ) · (1 + A·cos(ω_a t + φ0)) decay-positron count
The bottom strip is the real observable: a scrolling histogram of decay-positron counts N(t), which falls off with the dilated muon lifetime τ (exponential envelope, dashed) while oscillating at exactly ωa underneath it (solid) — this is the literal "wiggle plot" that Fermilab and CERN g-2 experiments fit to extract a to ten significant figures.
- Anomaly a — drag to 0 to lock the phasors together; crank it up to exaggerate the drift.
- Decay asymmetry A — sets how strongly the positron count oscillates (0 = flat decay, no g-2 signal visible).
- Dilated lifetime τ — how fast the muon population itself decays away, independent of the spin physics.
- Phasor amplification — the real drift is too slow to see on the clock face directly, so this multiplies the spin phasor's visual lag only; every numeric readout and the wiggle strip stay physically accurate.
- Drag the clock face — sets the initial phase offset φ0 between spin and momentum, exactly the parameter real experiments call the "start phase" of the wiggle fit.