The God Particle is all the rage in physics, but what on earth is it? Physics profs Wendy Taylor and Jurij Darewych try to demystify
Maha Azher
Contributor
The Higgs boson, often called the “goddamn” particle by physicists who have dedicated their entire lives in the search for it, is one of the most highly-coveted particles in the world of physics. Physicists have remained on the quest for the Higgs boson for almost 50 years now, thanks to its short lifespan and elusive nature.
Also commonly known as the mighty “God Particle,” it’s responsible for the creation of all other particles making up our universe.
On July 4, 2012, the discovery of the Higgs boson was celebrated as if it was the eighth wonder of the world. The discovery of the small particle made an impact in the physics world and captured the attention of laymen across the globe.
Developed in the 1970s, the Standard Model theory is a crucial pillar in supporting the entire concept of particle physics, and within this theory, the Higgs boson is a central player. This theory, for physicists, is a reason to get up and go to work in the morning. For the rest of us, the concept is a foreign, intimidating one.
Professors Wendy Taylor and Jurij Darewych of York’s physics department explain the Higgs boson to everyone outside of the physics world.
Darewych, a theorist whose work is focused on atomic physics, studies the fundamental structure of particles and their interactions. Taylor, who focuses on high-energy physics, is a member of the Atlas experiment at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the birthplace of the Higgs boson.
Simply put, the Higgs boson is a subatomic particle that was hypothesized by theorist Peter Higgs in 1964. Higgs suggested that this particle would explain why some particles in our universe have mass (weight) and why others, known as light photons, do not.
Research proved that any particle that interacts with the Higgs boson particle and the Higgs field will have mass, and the greater the interaction, the more mass the particle will have.
Darewych explains the importance of the Higgs boson, saying the particle is somewhat like a missing puzzle piece.
“Without the Higgs boson, all particles would not have mass, and would travel at the speed of light,” he says. “However, we know that this is not the case and thus, the theory of the Higgs boson supports and proves what we observe in nature.”
Much of the research surrounding the Higgs boson was conducted at CERN, a facility often depicted in pop culture as a mysterious vault inside which brilliant scientists are conducting experiments to produce dark matter, simulate black holes, and discover alternate universes. As a matter of fact, this depiction may be closer to reality than we think.
Located in Geneva, Switzerland, CERN is an international community of the most advanced technologies and brightest minds from around the world, constantly searching for what the universe is made of and how it works.
It is home to the world’s largest particle accelerators and decelerators, and its member list consists of around 20 member states. CERN is most notably the birthplace of the World Wide Web, and now, the Higgs boson.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), truly a technological phenomenon, has been mentioned time and again as the most important instrument in the Higgs research project.
The science behind the LHC and its role in the discovery of the Higgs boson is simple. The LHC accelerates protons to very high energies until they are travelling at the speed of light. At this high energy level, protons can be smashed together to produce new and rare particles, one of which happens to be the Higgs boson.
In the past few months, the Higgs boson has become somewhat of a celebrity, making headlines in every news outlet, appearing on the cover pages of scientific journals, and even in financial magazines. It has even made its television debut on the popular sitcom, The Big Bang Theory.
But while the Higgs boson is a giant leap forward in science, for the average person, the significance of the discovery is small.
“It’s a bit like in the 1900s after the discovery of Einstein’s theory of relativity,” says Darewych. “There was no effect on the everyday person.”
The discovery of the particle is really just the beginning of the end. This particle demonstrates all the characteristics hypothesized by Peter Higgs, but is still being referred to as the “Higgs Boson-like” particle, implying that further research is necessary.
It is unclear whether the Higgs boson’s 15 minutes of fame will be over soon, or if it will continue to entice the curious minds of laymen and physicists for years to come.
“We now have a theory that describes the universe and its fundamental matter at the basic level, but we already know that it is not capable of describing everything that we observe,” says Darewych. “In short, we already know this theory is the not the last word. Every theory that is discovered and used in physics has not been the last word.”
