Higgs Boson

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Pigeon
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Higgs Boson

Post by Pigeon » Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:05 am

GENEVA (AP) - Scientists working at the world's biggest atom smasher near Geneva have announced they are confident that the new subatomic particle discovered last summer is a version of the long-sought Higgs boson. The particle bears key attributes of the so-called "God particle" that was theorized nearly a half-century ago as fundamental to the creation of the universe. It took thousands of scientists from around the world to hunt the particle in the atom-smasher operated by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE GOD PARTICLE?

Everything is made of atoms, inside of which are electrons, protons and neutrons. And those, in turn, are made of quarks and other subatomic particles. Scientists have wondered how these tiny building blocks of the universe acquire mass. Without mass, the particles wouldn't hold together - and there would be no matter.

One theory proposed by British physicist Peter Higgs and teams in Belgium and the United States nearly a half-century ago is that a new particle must be creating a "sticky" energy field that acts as a drag on other particles. The atom-smashing experiments have now confirmed that this particle exists in a form that is similar to - but perhaps not exactly like - what was proposed.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

The Higgs is part of many theoretical equations underpinning scientists' understanding of how the world came into being. If the particle didn't exist, then those theories would have needed to be fundamentally overhauled. The fact that it does exist, in some form, means scientists have been on the right track with their theories. So far the measurements seem to line up with was expected under the so-called Standard Model of particle physics. This is disappointing for scientists who were hoping to see new discoveries including a theory known as "super-symmetry" where particles don't just come in pairs - think matter and anti-matter - but quadruplets, all with slightly different characteristics.

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Pigeon
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Re: Higgs Boson

Post by Pigeon » Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:09 am

Physicists say they have found a Higgs boson

GENEVA (AP) - The search is all but over for a subatomic particle that is a crucial building block of the universe.

Physicists announced Thursday they believe they have discovered the subatomic particle predicted nearly a half-century ago, which will go a long way toward explaining what gives electrons and all matter in the universe size and shape.

The elusive particle, called a Higgs boson, was predicted in 1964 to help fill in our understanding of the creation of the universe, which many theorize occurred in a massive explosion known as the Big Bang. The particle was named for Peter Higgs, one of the physicists who proposed its existence, but it later became popularly known as the "God particle."

The discovery would be a strong contender for the Nobel Prize. Last July, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, announced finding a particle they described as Higgs-like, but they stopped short of saying conclusively that it was the same particle or was some version of it.

Scientists have now finished going through the entire set of data.

"The preliminary results with the full 2012 data set are magnificent and to me it is clear that we are dealing with a Higgs boson, though we still have a long way to go to know what kind of Higgs boson it is," said Joe Incandela, a physicist who heads one of the two main teams at CERN, each involving several thousand scientists.

Whether or not it is a Higgs boson is demonstrated by how it interacts with other particles and its quantum properties, CERN said in the statement. After checking, scientists said the data "strongly indicates that it is a Higgs boson."


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Dr Exile
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Re: Higgs Boson

Post by Dr Exile » Mon Mar 18, 2013 3:26 am

One theory proposed by British physicist Peter Higgs and teams in Belgium and the United States nearly a half-century ago is that a new particle must be creating a "sticky" energy field that acts as a drag on other particles.
Makes sense to me, my father used to say "Only damn fools and boatswain mates chew gum." Apparently the Higgs Boson Mate chews gum too.

(But where does it get the gum to hold the universe together?..... Maybe God provides it.)
Credo quia absurdum.

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Pigeon
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Re: Higgs Boson

Post by Pigeon » Mon Mar 18, 2013 3:44 am

Guess time will tell. If it is even possible to know.

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Dr Exile
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Re: Higgs Boson

Post by Dr Exile » Mon Mar 18, 2013 4:03 am

I get a kick out of the way they make up little theories to fill in the blanks when they find a glitch in their models.

This is much easier:

"In the beginning there was no sea turtle soup, so the Great Pooh Bear
created the Universe with a Horrendous Space Kablooie so that stuff
would coagulate into an Insignificant Blob of Cosmic Spittle that
contained salt seas teeming with sea turtles."
Credo quia absurdum.

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Pigeon
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Re: Higgs Boson

Post by Pigeon » Mon Mar 18, 2013 4:07 am

Dr Exile wrote:I get a kick out of the way they make up little theories to fill in the blanks when they find a glitch in their models.
Makes you wonder.

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