"God Particle", Pt. 2 (Higgs Boson)

 

World's Largest Atom Smasher May Have Detected 'God Particle'

 

 AP Photo

Aug. 7, 2010: An amateur photographer takes a picture in the assembly room of the elements of the LHC (large hadron collider) during the Particle Physics Photowalk at the European Particle Physics laboratory (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland.

          A rumor is floating around the physics community that the world's largest atom smasher may have detected a long-sought subatomic particle called the Higgs boson, also known as the "God particle."

                   The controversial rumor is based on what appears to be a leaked internal note from physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 17-mile-long particle accelerator near Geneva, Switzerland. It's not entirely clear at this point if the memo is authentic, or what the data it refers to might mean — but the note already has researchers talking.

                    The buzz started when an anonymous commenter recently posted an abstract of the note on Columbia University mathematician Peter Woit's blog, Not Even Wrong.

                     Some physicists say the note may be a hoax, while others believe the "detection" is likely a statistical anomaly that will disappear upon further study. But the find would be a huge particle-physics breakthrough, if it holds up.

                      "If it were to be real, it would be really exciting," said physicist Sheldon Stone of Syracuse University.

Hunting for the Higgs

                       The Higgs boson is predicted to exist by prevailing particle-physics theory, which is known as the Standard Model. Physicists think the Higgs bestows mass on all the other particles — but they have yet to confirm its existence.

                      Huge atom smashers — like the LHC and the Tevatron, at Fermilab in Illinois — are searching for the Higgs and other subatomic bits of matter. These accelerators slam particles together at enormous speeds, generating a shower of other particles that could include the Higgs or other elemental pieces predicted by theory but yet to be detected. [Wacky Physics: The Coolest Little Particles in Nature]

           The leaked note suggests that the LHC's ATLAS particle-detection experiment may have picked up a signature of the elusive Higgs. The signal is consistent, in mass and other characteristics, with what the Higgs is expected to produce, according to the note.

                       However, some other aspects of the signal don't match predictions.

           "Its production rate is much higher than that expected for the Higgs boson in the Standard Model," Stone told SPACE.com in an email interview. So the signal may be evidence of some other particle, Stone added, "which in some sense would be even more interesting, or it could be the result of new physics beyond the Standard Model."

Too soon to tell

                    Stone was quick to point out that the note is not an official result of the ATLAS research team. Therefore, speculating about its validity or implications is decidedly preliminary.

               "It is actually quite illegitimate and unscientific to talk publicly about internal collaboration material before it is approved," Stone said. "So this 'result' is not a result until the collaboration officially releases it."

                     Other researchers joined Stone in urging patience and caution before getting too excited about the possible discovery.

                  "Don't worry, Higgs boson! I would never spread scurrilous rumors about you. Unlike some people," Caltech physicist Sean Carroll tweeted today (April 22).

                     While it's still early, some researchers have already begun to cast doubt on the possible detection. For example, Tommaso Dorigo — a particle physicist at Fermilab and CERN, which operates the LHC — thinks the signal is false and will fade upon closer inspection.

                     Dorigo — who said he doesn't have access to the full ATLAS memo — gives several reasons for this viewpoint. He points out, for example, that scientists at Fermilab didn't see the putative Higgs signal in their Tevatron data, which covered similar ground as the ATLAS experiment.

                     Dorigo feels strongly enough, in fact, to put his money where his mouth is.

                    "I bet $1,000 with whomever has a name and a reputation in particle physics (this is a necessary specification, because I need to be sure that the person taking the bet will honor it) that the signal is not due to Higgs boson decays," he wrote on his blog today. "I am willing to bet that this is NO NEW PARTICLE. Clear enough?"

Reader Note:  For more on the Higgs Boson, please see HERE.

One More Okapi; Higgs Boson

Okapi calf

Simulated event featuring the appearance of the Higgs boson

"The Higgs boson is a hypothetical massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. At present there are no known elementary scalar bosons (spin-0 particles) in nature, although many composite spin-0 particles are known. The existence of the particle is postulated as a means of resolving inconsistencies in current theoretical physics, and attempts are being made to confirm the existence of the particle by experimentation, using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and the Tevatron at Fermilab. Other theories exist that do not anticipate the Higgs boson, described elsewhere as the Higgsless model.

The Higgs boson is the only Standard Model particle that has not been observed and is thought to be the mediator of mass. Experimental detection of the Higgs boson would help explain the origin of mass in the universe. The Higgs boson would explain the difference between the massless photon, which mediates electromagnetism, and the massive W and Z bosons, which mediate the weak force. If the Higgs boson exists, it is an integral and pervasive component of the material world.

Arguments based on the Standard Model suggest the mass of the Higgs is below 1.4 TeV. Therefore the Large Hadron Collider^[1] is expected to provide experimental evidence of the existence or non-existence of the Higgs boson. Experiments at Fermilab also continue previous attempts at detection, albeit hindered by the lower energy of the Tevatron accelerator, although it theoretically has the necessary energy to produce the Higgs boson. It has been reported that Fermilab physicists suggest that the odds of the Tevatron detecting the Higgs boson, if indeed it exists, are between 50% and 96%, depending on its mass.

The Higgs boson is often referred to as "the God particle" by the media,^[29] after the title of Leon Lederman's book, The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?.^[30] While use of this term may have contributed to increased media interest in particle physics and the Large Hadron Collider,^[30] many scientists dislike it.^[29] In a renaming competition, a jury of physicists chose the name "the champagne bottle boson" as the best popular name."

Map of the large Hadron Collider, CERN, together with the Super Proton Synchroton

Standard Model of Elementary Particles - As of January 2010, the Higgs boson is the only elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model that has eluded detection.