The Higgs Boson

         

Rojas 8

The Higgs Particle

The "God Particle" was the name used to describe the theoretical Higgs boson in mass media outlets. This moniker took hold after a book in 1993 by science writer Dick Teresi and Nobel Prize winning physicist Leon M. Lederman. Peter Higgs the particles namesake strongly opposed the label on the grounds that it was "inappropriate sensationalism" He states, "I'm an atheist, but I have an uneasy feeling that playing around with names like that could be unnecessarily offensive to people who are religious." Decades of theoretical work and the development of what might be the world's most complex machine bear witness to the importance physicists placed on confirming, or denying the existence of this particle. Understanding the Higgs boson is a key thread in deconstructing reality, and understanding how the universe works.  (Potter, 2013)

The Scientists

"In 1964, three papers by different physicists proposed how matter could attain mass by envisioning a kind of cosmic molasses filling space. Particles trying to go through it would acquire mass." The first to propose the existence of a mechanism to explain how particles gained mass, were Dr. Francois Englert and his colleague Dr. Robert Brout. Francois Englert and Peter Higgs were co-awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize nearly fifty years after the theory was proposed, Robert Brout unfortunately died in 2011 and the prize is not awarded posthumously." Three other physicists - Tom Kibble of Imperial College, London; Carl Hagen of the University of Rochester; and Gerald Guralnik of Brown University - were also writing their own paper which proposed a similar theory of an energy field that permeates all of space, to explain how particles interaction with this field would account for mass." (Overbye, 2013)

The Standard Model

To understand the importance of this theory and what it represents to science. It is important to understand the Standard Model of particle physics which is the scientific basis for humanities claim to know something about how the universe works. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) which is an acronym derived from the French, "Conseil Europn pour la Recherche Nuclire."  Was founded in 1952 and is charged with, "probing the fundamental structure of the universe." Their website describes the history of the Standard Model and how the model makes sense of everything that exists, and why it works:

The theories and discoveries of thousands of physicists since the 1930s have resulted in a remarkable insight into the fundamental structure of matter: everything in the universe is found to be made from a few basic building blocks called fundamental particles, governed by four fundamental forces. Our best understanding of how these particles and three of the forces are related to each other is encapsulated in the Standard Model of particle physics. Developed in the early 1970s, it has successfully explained almost all experimental results and precisely predicted a wide variety of phenomena. Over time and through many experiments, the Standard Model has become established as a well-tested physics theory. (CERN, nd)

Quantum Mechanics is a paradigm of the Standard Model, it is the science of the very small; and is to the micro world of subatomic particles as Einstein's General Theory of Relativity is to the macro world of the planets and stars. The science of Quantum Mechanics tells us that the world of the subatomic is chaotic but knowable. In the Standard Model subatomic particles are the building blocks that compose matter. These particles are also responsible for the four basic forces of nature. From the Why-Sci website written by Constance Kaita we learn:

Structures of more basic particles like quarks and leptons compose atoms, and force is transferred between them by other particles in a category of force-carrying particles called "bosons." There are six types of particles in each category, related to each other in pairs or "generations." The first generation contains the lightest and most stable particles, while the second and third generations contain the heavier and less stable particles.

These elementary particles are controlled by four fundamental forces: the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, the electromagnetic force, and (the still theoretical graviton) in gravitational force. For example photons are a particle in the category of bosons, and they are responsible for the transfer of electromagnetic force to matter. Each Fundamental force in the universe is dependent on a corresponding boson. The Higgs boson in Peter Higgs theory would be responsible for transferring the property of mass to matter. The Higgs boson interacts with particles like Electrons and Protons to give them mass, but not with photons which are massless." (Kaita, n.d.)

This is the mechanism which answers the fundamental question in the Standard Model. What gives matter its mass? Because this theory solves this fundamental question, physicists put a great value in confirming the existence of this particle.

The Higgs field

The Nobel Prize winning theory presupposes the existence of a Higgs field that permeates all of space. The search for the Higgs particle is an indirect way of confirming the existence of the Higgs field theory, since existence of the boson would infer the presence of the field. This theory fills in one of the missing pieces in the puzzle of the Standard Model giving physicists a mechanism to explain why particles of matter have mass. Without the Higgs field the universe would be massless with particles zipping along at the speed of light and unable to combine to form atoms.

Mathematical models of the particles in the universe have been developed to explain particles and their interactions, but these models are useless because they only work if particles have no mass which would preclude the universe we live in. According to physicist Roger Cashmore working at the Department of Physics, University of Oxford, UK:

Unfortunately, if you try and write down a theory of particles and their interactions then the simplest version requires all the masses of the particles to be zero. So on one hand we have a whole variety of masses and on the other a theory in which all masses should be zero. Such conundrums provide the excitement and the challenges of science. (Linclon, n.d.)

The universe is biased toward simplicity; one of the puzzles that confounded early twentieth century scientists was the question posed by observations that light always travels at the same speed no matter its relative motion to other observers. This problem is explained when we consider Einstein's Theory of Relativity that proposes that the perception of time and distance change depending on the relative position of the observers. Once science was able to overcome the long accepted notion time was inviolate, and a given distance would not change no matter the perspective, Einstein's ideas gave the universe an elegant simplicity.

The simplicity of the mathematical models that explain particles and their interaction were problematic, because they lack a mechanism for explaining mass, an obvious necessary component for any model that purports to define the universe. Peter Higgs proposed theory provided that mechanism hence the strong desire by particle physics to confirm the theory.

The beauty and elegance of the Higgs theory is the simplicity it incorporates into the workings of the universe. Jeff Forshaw is a professor of particle physics at the University of Manchester, for him simplicity implies symmetry and symmetry seems to be the guiding principal behind the mechanisms of the universe. In an article of The Guardian he writes:

We have learned that the universe is made up of particles and that those particles dance around in a crazy quantum way. But the rules of the game are simple - they can be codified (almost) on the back of an envelope and they express the fact that, at its most elemental level, the universe is governed by symmetry. Symmetry and simplicity go hand in hand - half a snowflake is enough information to anticipate what the other half looks like - and so it is with those dancing particles. The discovery that nature is beautifully symmetric means we have very little choice in how the elementary particles do their dance - the rules simply "come for free". (Forshaw, 2013)

The Higgs Boson 

According to Dr. S. L. Lloyd a particle physics scientist who recounts the story of the Wladegrave Challenge: "In 1993, the then UK Science Minister, William Waldegrave, issued a challenge to physicists to answer the questions 'What is the Higgs boson, and why do we want to find it?"' This challenge was proposed as a method of explaining to the public the complex ideas behind the Higgs Boson, and why discovery of the particle was important to science. (Lloyd, 1997)

Bottles of champagne were awarded to the five winning entries at the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. One of the entries came from David J. Miller physicist and astronomer at University College London. He explained the Higgs boson as clumps in the Higgs field. He proposed a political analogy to explain how the boson gives particles mass.

Consider a rumor passing through our room full of uniformly spread political workers. Those near the door hear of it first and cluster together to get the details, then they turn and move closer to their next neighbors who want to know about it too. A wave of clustering passes through the room. It may spread to all the corners or it may form a compact bunch which carries the news along a line of workers from the door to some dignitary at the other side of the room. Since the information is carried by clusters of people, and since it was clustering that gave extra mass to the ex-Prime Minister, then the rumor-carrying clusters also have mass. (Lloyd, 1997)

Moving forward in the age of the Higgs Boson

So what is the next step in unraveling the structure of nature now that the existence of the Higgs boson is confirmed? Discovery of the Higgs particle gives more credence to the Standard model of particle physics, yet there are still deeper truths to unravel. There are still problems with the Standard Model; bringing gravity into the fold of phenomena that is understood by physicists is still an unrealized goal. Assumptions have to be made - like the elusive graviton - to make the Standard Model work. Not to mention Dark Matter, and Dark Energy which are significant components of the universe and cannot be explained by Standard Model.

The nickname, "God Particle" is not appreciated by many scientists, or clerics not only does the name seem to trespass into the field of religion, but it confuses those who are not familiar with some of the basic science that describes the universe. Ultimately though, the names captivation of the mass media may have sparked interest into the subject of physics that no purposeful attempt at furthering this knowledge to the public may have accomplished. Whatever word you use to describe the discovery of the Higgs boson and what the theory behind it means to human understanding of nature; 'significant,' 'seminal,' or groundbreaking. The public should be aware of how man's ingenuity has bought us a step closer to understanding the deepest of nature's secrets.

Bibliography

CERN. (nd). The Standard Model. Retrieved December 12, 2013, from CERN: http://home.web.cern.ch/about/physics/standard-model

Forshaw, J. (2013, July 4). Jeff Forshaw. Retrieved December 16, 2013, from The Gaurdian: http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2012/jul/04/higgs-boson-universe-peter-h...

Kaita, C. (n.d.). How can the discovery of the Higgs boson affect our understanding of the universe? Retrieved December 16, 2013, from Why-Sci: http://why-sci.com/higgs-boson/

Linclon, D. (n.d.). The Higgs Field Explained. (M. Kluck, Editor, K. Stover, Producer, & Powerhouse Animation Studios, Inc) Retrieved December 12, 2013, from Ted Ed: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-higgs-field-explained-don-lincoln

Lloyd, D. S. (1997, August 19). The Waldegrave Higgs Challenge. Retrieved December 13, 2013, from Centre for Research in String Theory: http://www.strings.ph.qmul.ac.uk/~jmc/epp/higgs.html

Overbye, D. (2013, October 8). Higgs and Englert Are Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics. Retrieved November 19, 2013, from NYTimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/science/englert-and-higgs-win-nobel-physics-pr...

Potter, N. (2013, October 9). The Higgs Boson and the Nobel: Why We Call It the 'God Particle'. Retrieved November 19, 2013, from Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2013/10/09/the-higgs-boson-win...