----------Questions:
Q. I understand that it is the Higgs field that confers mass but what is the relationship of the Higgs boson to the field? And if it is the field that confers mass, what does the Higgs boson do?
SS: "In quantum theory all fields have "quanta" associated with them. As an example, the photon is the quantum of the electromagnetic field. In analogy, the Higgs boson is the particle related to the Higgs field."
JG: "The Higgs field permeates throughout the whole universe. A Higgs boson can be thought of as a little ripple of the Higgs field. It is the smallest ripple allowed by quantum mechanics."
Q. I understand that the field is around us all the time. Are Higgs bosons there too? I.e. are they being made in nature all the time or were they only made in the fraction of the second after the Big Bang, hence the need to recreate these conditions?
SS: "Higgs particles are very heavy and it therefore requires a lot of energy to produce them. This is the reason we need high-energy accelerators like the LHC."JG: "It takes a lot of energy to create real Higgs bosons. Also they are very short lived and decay rapidly into other particles. It is this process that is being observed at LHC."
Q. if the field is there all the time, why not just look for it? Or is it even harder to detect?SS: "The Higgs field interacts with the fundamental particles that make up the world around us and it gives them their mass. When measuring particle masses we see the Higgs field at work. However, to get a positive proof that this theory is really correct we need to find the Higgs particle which comes with the field. Peter Higgs actually postulated the existence of the Higgs particle as an afterthought to his original paper as a possible experimental signature of his theory."
JG: "The Higgs field provides a mechanism to generate mass in various elementary particles. In particular, the fact that the W-bosons and the Z-bosons have mass is good indirect evidence for the Higgs field. Detecting the Higgs boson will provide a direct test for the existence of the Higgs field itself."
SS = Stefan Söldner-Rembold at the University of ManchesterJG = Prof Jerome Gauntlett, Head of Theoretical Physics at the Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College LondonSource: AusSMC, UKSM
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This clustering effect is the Higgs mechanism, postulated by British physicist Peter Higgs in the 1960s. The theory hypothesizes that a sort of lattice, referred to as the Higgs field, fills the universe. This is something like an electromagnetic field, in that it affects the particles that move through it, but it is also related to the physics of solid materials. Scientists know that when an electron passes through a positively charged crystal lattice of atoms (a solid), the electron's mass can increase as much as 40 times. The same might be true in the Higgs field: a particle moving through it creates a little bit of distortion -- like the crowd around the star at the party -- and that lends mass to the particle.photo: CERNScientists at CERN use the enormous ALEPHdetector in their search for the Higgs particle.The question of mass has been an especially puzzling one, and has left the Higgs boson as the single missing piece of the Standard Model yet
to be spotted. The Standard Model describes three of nature's four forces: electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Electromagnetism has been fairly well understood for many decades. Recently, physicists have learned much more about the strong force, which binds the elements of atomic nuclei together, and the weak force, which governs radioactivity and hydrogen fusion (which generates the sun's energy). Electromagnetism describes how particles interact with photons, tiny packets of electromagnetic radiation. In a similar way, the weak force describes how two other entities, the W and Z particles, interact with electrons, quarks, neutrinos and others. There is one very important difference between these two interactions: photons have no mass, while the masses of W and Z are huge. In fact, they are some of the most massive particles known. The first inclination is to assume that W and Z simply exist and interact with other elemental
particles. But for mathematical reasons, the giant masses of W and Z raise inconsistencies in the Standard Model. To address this, physicists postulate that there must be at least one other particle -- the Higgs boson. The simplest theories predict only one boson, but others say there might be several. In fact, the search for the Higgs particle(s) is some of the most exciting research happening, because it could lead to completely new discoveries in particle physics. Some theorists say it could bring to light entirely new types of strong interactions, and others believe research will reveal a new fundamental physical symmetry called "supersymmetry." photo: CERNCERN scientists were unsure whether these events recorded by the ALEPH detector indicated the presence of a Higgs boson. Check out the links listed below for the latest information on the search for the Higgs Boson.First, though, scientists want to determine whether the Higgs boson exists. The
search has been on for over ten years, both at CERN's Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) in Geneva and at Fermilab in Illinois. To look for the particle, researchers must smash other particles together at very high speeds. If the energy from that collision is high enough, it is converted into smaller bits of matter -- particles -- one of which could be a Higgs boson. The Higgs will only last for a small fraction of a second, and then decay into other particles. So in order to tell whether the Higgs appeared in the collision, researchers look for evidence of what it would have decayed into.In August 2000, physicists working at CERN's LEP saw traces of particles that might fit the right pattern, but the evidence is still inconclusive. LEP was closed down in the beginning of November, 2000, but the search continues at Fermilab in Illinois, and will pick up again at CERN when the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) begins experiments in 2005.
**************
Scientists have no hope of seeing the field itself, so they search instead for its signature particle, the Higgs boson, which is essentially a ripple in the Higgs field.According to theory, the Higgs field switched on a trillionth of a second after the big bang blasted the universe into existence. Before this moment, all of the particles in the cosmos weighed nothing at all and zipped around chaotically at the speed of light.When the Higgs field switched on, some particles began to feel a "drag" as they moved around, as though caught in cosmic glue. By clinging to the particles, the field gave them mass, making them move around more slowly. This was a crucial moment in the formation of the universe, because it allowed particles to come together and form all the atoms and molecules around today.But the Higgs field is selective. Particles of light, or photons, move through the Higgs field as if it wasn't there. Because the field does not cling top them,
they remain weightless and destined to move around at the speed of light forever. Other particles, like quarks and electrons – the smallest constituents of atoms – get caught in the field and gain mass in the process.The field has enormous implications. Without it, the smallest building blocks of matter, from which all else is made, would forever rush around at the speed of light. They would never come together to make stars, planets, or life as we know it.12.58pm: The Higgs field is often said to give mass to everything. That is wrong. The Higgs field only gives mass to some very simple particles. The field accounts for only one or two percent of the mass of more complex things like atoms, molecules and everyday objects, from your mobile phone to your pet llama. The vast majority of mass comes from the energy needed to hold quarks together inside atoms.
Q. I understand that it is the Higgs field that confers mass but what is the relationship of the Higgs boson to the field? And if it is the field that confers mass, what does the Higgs boson do?
SS: "In quantum theory all fields have "quanta" associated with them. As an example, the photon is the quantum of the electromagnetic field. In analogy, the Higgs boson is the particle related to the Higgs field."
JG: "The Higgs field permeates throughout the whole universe. A Higgs boson can be thought of as a little ripple of the Higgs field. It is the smallest ripple allowed by quantum mechanics."
Q. I understand that the field is around us all the time. Are Higgs bosons there too? I.e. are they being made in nature all the time or were they only made in the fraction of the second after the Big Bang, hence the need to recreate these conditions?
SS: "Higgs particles are very heavy and it therefore requires a lot of energy to produce them. This is the reason we need high-energy accelerators like the LHC."JG: "It takes a lot of energy to create real Higgs bosons. Also they are very short lived and decay rapidly into other particles. It is this process that is being observed at LHC."
Q. if the field is there all the time, why not just look for it? Or is it even harder to detect?SS: "The Higgs field interacts with the fundamental particles that make up the world around us and it gives them their mass. When measuring particle masses we see the Higgs field at work. However, to get a positive proof that this theory is really correct we need to find the Higgs particle which comes with the field. Peter Higgs actually postulated the existence of the Higgs particle as an afterthought to his original paper as a possible experimental signature of his theory."
JG: "The Higgs field provides a mechanism to generate mass in various elementary particles. In particular, the fact that the W-bosons and the Z-bosons have mass is good indirect evidence for the Higgs field. Detecting the Higgs boson will provide a direct test for the existence of the Higgs field itself."
SS = Stefan Söldner-Rembold at the University of ManchesterJG = Prof Jerome Gauntlett, Head of Theoretical Physics at the Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College LondonSource: AusSMC, UKSM
*************
This clustering effect is the Higgs mechanism, postulated by British physicist Peter Higgs in the 1960s. The theory hypothesizes that a sort of lattice, referred to as the Higgs field, fills the universe. This is something like an electromagnetic field, in that it affects the particles that move through it, but it is also related to the physics of solid materials. Scientists know that when an electron passes through a positively charged crystal lattice of atoms (a solid), the electron's mass can increase as much as 40 times. The same might be true in the Higgs field: a particle moving through it creates a little bit of distortion -- like the crowd around the star at the party -- and that lends mass to the particle.photo: CERNScientists at CERN use the enormous ALEPHdetector in their search for the Higgs particle.The question of mass has been an especially puzzling one, and has left the Higgs boson as the single missing piece of the Standard Model yet
to be spotted. The Standard Model describes three of nature's four forces: electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Electromagnetism has been fairly well understood for many decades. Recently, physicists have learned much more about the strong force, which binds the elements of atomic nuclei together, and the weak force, which governs radioactivity and hydrogen fusion (which generates the sun's energy). Electromagnetism describes how particles interact with photons, tiny packets of electromagnetic radiation. In a similar way, the weak force describes how two other entities, the W and Z particles, interact with electrons, quarks, neutrinos and others. There is one very important difference between these two interactions: photons have no mass, while the masses of W and Z are huge. In fact, they are some of the most massive particles known. The first inclination is to assume that W and Z simply exist and interact with other elemental
particles. But for mathematical reasons, the giant masses of W and Z raise inconsistencies in the Standard Model. To address this, physicists postulate that there must be at least one other particle -- the Higgs boson. The simplest theories predict only one boson, but others say there might be several. In fact, the search for the Higgs particle(s) is some of the most exciting research happening, because it could lead to completely new discoveries in particle physics. Some theorists say it could bring to light entirely new types of strong interactions, and others believe research will reveal a new fundamental physical symmetry called "supersymmetry." photo: CERNCERN scientists were unsure whether these events recorded by the ALEPH detector indicated the presence of a Higgs boson. Check out the links listed below for the latest information on the search for the Higgs Boson.First, though, scientists want to determine whether the Higgs boson exists. The
search has been on for over ten years, both at CERN's Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) in Geneva and at Fermilab in Illinois. To look for the particle, researchers must smash other particles together at very high speeds. If the energy from that collision is high enough, it is converted into smaller bits of matter -- particles -- one of which could be a Higgs boson. The Higgs will only last for a small fraction of a second, and then decay into other particles. So in order to tell whether the Higgs appeared in the collision, researchers look for evidence of what it would have decayed into.In August 2000, physicists working at CERN's LEP saw traces of particles that might fit the right pattern, but the evidence is still inconclusive. LEP was closed down in the beginning of November, 2000, but the search continues at Fermilab in Illinois, and will pick up again at CERN when the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) begins experiments in 2005.
**************
Scientists have no hope of seeing the field itself, so they search instead for its signature particle, the Higgs boson, which is essentially a ripple in the Higgs field.According to theory, the Higgs field switched on a trillionth of a second after the big bang blasted the universe into existence. Before this moment, all of the particles in the cosmos weighed nothing at all and zipped around chaotically at the speed of light.When the Higgs field switched on, some particles began to feel a "drag" as they moved around, as though caught in cosmic glue. By clinging to the particles, the field gave them mass, making them move around more slowly. This was a crucial moment in the formation of the universe, because it allowed particles to come together and form all the atoms and molecules around today.But the Higgs field is selective. Particles of light, or photons, move through the Higgs field as if it wasn't there. Because the field does not cling top them,
they remain weightless and destined to move around at the speed of light forever. Other particles, like quarks and electrons – the smallest constituents of atoms – get caught in the field and gain mass in the process.The field has enormous implications. Without it, the smallest building blocks of matter, from which all else is made, would forever rush around at the speed of light. They would never come together to make stars, planets, or life as we know it.12.58pm: The Higgs field is often said to give mass to everything. That is wrong. The Higgs field only gives mass to some very simple particles. The field accounts for only one or two percent of the mass of more complex things like atoms, molecules and everyday objects, from your mobile phone to your pet llama. The vast majority of mass comes from the energy needed to hold quarks together inside atoms.
Can the Higg's Boson really explain why matter has mass?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2013/03/14/wrd-science-higgs-boson-particle-discovery.html
