Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Apr 30, 2020 11:40:54 GMT 2
(.#448).- Higgs Boson: one of the most important particles in the universe ...
Higgs Boson: one of the most important particles in the universe is revealed a little more.
By: Brice Louvet, science editor
November 1, 2019, 11 h 40 min
Around 100 simultaneous proton–proton collisions in an event recorded by the CMS experiment (Image: Thomas McCauley/CMS/CERN)
A team of physicists claims to have made the most precise measurement of the mass of the Higgs boson, one of the most important particles in the universe.
Theorized by Peter Higgs in 1964, the boson that bears his name was finally spotted in 2012. The discovery of this missing link, this real keystone of the fundamental structure of matter, is undoubtedly the most important of the decade. But concretely, what is a Higgs boson?
“Imagine a snowfield…”
First, note that this is a particle. To picture this, remember that everything is made up of molecules. They themselves are made up of atoms which are made up of protons and neutrons. If we break these down, we then find elementary particles. In other words, at the end of this game of Russian dolls, you can not get smaller. One of these particles is the Higgs boson.
To assess its importance, it must also be understood that these particles are in the form of a "field" uniformly covering the entire cosmos. “Imagine a perfectly identical snow field everywhere in the universe. The Higgs boson would be the snowflake that makes up this snowfield, “explained physicist John Ellis a few years ago.
Having said that, then imagine that a skier is passing so fast over this snowfield that he leaves no trace. He doesn't have time to sink in. This skier could be the photon, for example. A photon goes so fast that it does not interact with the Higgs field. It does not sink and therefore does not acquire mass.
Now let go of the skis and place snowshoes at your feet. You sink deeper into the snowfield because you interact with it. So you're going slower. It’s like a particle that interacts with the Higgs field and acquires mass. It therefore goes more slowly than the particles which move "on skis", which they have no mass.
To make it short, the Higgs boson is therefore an elementary particle which composes the Higgs field whose interaction with the other particles determines their mass. Without him, there would be no matter.
Theoretical physicist Peter Higgs. Credits: Wikipedia
Measure the mass of the Higgs boson
To identify this particle, physicists had to build a gigantic particle accelerator (the LHC, for Large Hadron Collider). Its purpose is to push the protons to be struck at speeds close to that of light. Thus, it will “excite the snowfield” and thus bring out individual bosons. The problem is that this particle is very unstable. In other words: as soon as you flush it out, it disintegrates almost instantly.
As you can see, "finding" it was not an easy task. His discovery was the result of incredible intellectual and technical prowess. What researchers are offering us today is a very precise estimate of its mass.
At the time of its discovery, the mass of the Higgs boson had been measured at around 125 to 126 Gigaelectronvolts (GeV). Seven years later, by dint of “rubbing shoulders” with it, researchers were able to refine these measurements with an uncertainty of 0.1%. They now estimate that the Higgs boson has a precise mass of 125.35 GeV.
This new measure is not going to revolutionize our everyday life. However, it helps to better understand one of the most important particles in the universe. The new data will also allow researchers to refine future measurements of other properties of the particle.
F I N .
Higgs Boson: one of the most important particles in the universe is revealed a little more.
By: Brice Louvet, science editor
November 1, 2019, 11 h 40 min
Around 100 simultaneous proton–proton collisions in an event recorded by the CMS experiment (Image: Thomas McCauley/CMS/CERN)
A team of physicists claims to have made the most precise measurement of the mass of the Higgs boson, one of the most important particles in the universe.
Theorized by Peter Higgs in 1964, the boson that bears his name was finally spotted in 2012. The discovery of this missing link, this real keystone of the fundamental structure of matter, is undoubtedly the most important of the decade. But concretely, what is a Higgs boson?
“Imagine a snowfield…”
First, note that this is a particle. To picture this, remember that everything is made up of molecules. They themselves are made up of atoms which are made up of protons and neutrons. If we break these down, we then find elementary particles. In other words, at the end of this game of Russian dolls, you can not get smaller. One of these particles is the Higgs boson.
To assess its importance, it must also be understood that these particles are in the form of a "field" uniformly covering the entire cosmos. “Imagine a perfectly identical snow field everywhere in the universe. The Higgs boson would be the snowflake that makes up this snowfield, “explained physicist John Ellis a few years ago.
Having said that, then imagine that a skier is passing so fast over this snowfield that he leaves no trace. He doesn't have time to sink in. This skier could be the photon, for example. A photon goes so fast that it does not interact with the Higgs field. It does not sink and therefore does not acquire mass.
Now let go of the skis and place snowshoes at your feet. You sink deeper into the snowfield because you interact with it. So you're going slower. It’s like a particle that interacts with the Higgs field and acquires mass. It therefore goes more slowly than the particles which move "on skis", which they have no mass.
To make it short, the Higgs boson is therefore an elementary particle which composes the Higgs field whose interaction with the other particles determines their mass. Without him, there would be no matter.
Theoretical physicist Peter Higgs. Credits: Wikipedia
Measure the mass of the Higgs boson
To identify this particle, physicists had to build a gigantic particle accelerator (the LHC, for Large Hadron Collider). Its purpose is to push the protons to be struck at speeds close to that of light. Thus, it will “excite the snowfield” and thus bring out individual bosons. The problem is that this particle is very unstable. In other words: as soon as you flush it out, it disintegrates almost instantly.
As you can see, "finding" it was not an easy task. His discovery was the result of incredible intellectual and technical prowess. What researchers are offering us today is a very precise estimate of its mass.
At the time of its discovery, the mass of the Higgs boson had been measured at around 125 to 126 Gigaelectronvolts (GeV). Seven years later, by dint of “rubbing shoulders” with it, researchers were able to refine these measurements with an uncertainty of 0.1%. They now estimate that the Higgs boson has a precise mass of 125.35 GeV.
This new measure is not going to revolutionize our everyday life. However, it helps to better understand one of the most important particles in the universe. The new data will also allow researchers to refine future measurements of other properties of the particle.
F I N .
