"God" (Higgs boson) Particle Found

[ВАЛТЕР]

Big news!


God particle is 'found': Scientists at Cern expected to announce on Wednesday Higgs boson particle has been discovered




Scientists 'will say they are 99.99% certain' the particle has been found
Leading physicists have been invited to event - sparking speculation that Higgs boson particle has been found
'God Particle' gives particles that make up atoms their mass

Scientists at Cern will announce that the elusive Higgs boson 'God Particle' has been found at a press conference next week, it is believed.
Five leading theoretical physicists have been invited to the event on Wednesday - sparking speculation that the particle has been discovered.
Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider are expected to say they are 99.99 per cent certain it has been found - which is known as 'four sigma' level.
Scroll down for video
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/08/article-0-00F6AB8E00000578-573_634x454.jpg The particle accelerator: It is within these tubes that physicists are hunting for the 'God' particle

Physicists first predicted that the Higgs Boson subatomic particle exists 48 years ago.

More...



Thank God this wasn't our sun! Hubble spots planet shedding atmosphere following solar flare outburst (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2166487/Nasas-Hubble-Space-Telescope-spots-planet-shedding-atmosphere-following-solar-flare.html)


Peter Higgs, the Edinburgh University emeritus professor of physics that the particle is named after, is among those who have been called to the press conference in Switzerland.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/01/article-2167188-13E0A1A9000005DC-582_306x439.jpg Invite: Peter Higgs, the professor the particle is named after, has been asked to attend the press conference at Cern

The management at Cern want the two teams of scientists to reach the 'five sigma' level of certainty with their results - so they are 99.99995 per cent sure - such is the significance of the results.
Tom Kibble, 79, the emeritus professor of physics at Imperial College London, has also been invited but is unable to attend.
He told the Sunday Times: 'My guess is that is must be a pretty positive result for them to be asking us out there.'

The Higgs boson is regarded as the key to understanding the universe. Physicists say its job is to give the particles that make up atoms their mass.
Without this mass, these particles would zip though the cosmos at the speed of light, unable to bind together to form the atoms that make up everything in the universe, from planets to people.
The collider, housed in an 18-mile tunnel buried deep underground near the French-Swiss border, smashes beams of protons – sub-atomic particles – together at close to the speed of light, recreating the conditions that existed a fraction of a second after the Big Bang.

If the physicists’ theory is correct, a few Higgs bosons should be created in every trillion collisions, before rapidly decaying.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/08/article-0-0175F60A00000578-113_634x582.jpg An aerial view of the Swiss-French border, indicating the route of the Large Hadron Collider
This decay would leave behind a ‘footprint’ that would show up as a bump in their graphs.
However, despite 1,600 trillion collisions being created in the tunnel - there have been fewer than 300 potential Higgs particles.

Now it is thought that two separate teams of scientists, who run independent experiments in secret from each other, have both uncovered evidence of the particle.

However, the two groups, CMS and ATLAS, are expected to stop short of confirming its existence.


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/08/article-0-05BC11000000044D-335_634x458.jpg Inside: The giant project is the most enormous piece of scientific apparatus ever constructed, and is buried 100m beneath the ground









Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2167188/God-particle-Scientists-Cern-expected-announce-Higgs-boson-particle-discovered-Wednesday.html#ixzz1zUuDRQVi

[Q]

In Dutch media I read that not the particle but only a "footprint" has been found. It is much less sure about confirming anything.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I really dislike the term God-particle ,why do people call it that?

[¿Que?]

I really diasike the term God-particle ,why do people call it that?
Yeah, this annoys me too. It's a perfect example of why I find science journalism so annoying. It's probably referred to that because of its relationship to the big bang, although I'd bet few scientists actually use the term...

[Q]

I really diasike the term God-particle ,why do people call it that?

Theatrics basically. Higgs is a "make or break" discovery for the Standard Model. Hence the nickname "God", given its importance.

[Book O'Dead]

I really dislike the term God-particle ,why do people call it that?

Because the Higgs boson is said to bet the glue of the Universe. Get it?

I think the confirmation of its existence would allow us to build models of the universe at the sub-atomic level resembling the models offered by string theorist.

This is like the discovery of e=m/c2

[Q]

This is like the discovery of e=m/c2

Sorry, but it's E=mcˆ2

[/Physics nazi].

[The Jay]

This is good news, but please don't call it the "god" particle. That's just a catch phrase they use to make it sound important to scientifically illiterate people.

[Book O'Dead]

This is good news, but please don't call it the "god" particle. That's just a catch phrase they use to make it sound important to scientifically illiterate people.

Exactly the reason why it works for me!

[Luís Henrique]

Will we all have a flashforward?

Luís Henrique

[Kenco Smooth]

Confirmed they've observed a new boson at 5-sigma certainty. Need to do more work to confirm it's the Higgs but so far it seems consistent with what is expected.

Not entirely sure what that entails but yay science!

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Good stuff, I expect to see a working minature of a universe on my desk by Monday.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Fascinating story. I look forward to seeing what comes of this advancement.

[kitsune]

Wow! It's expected, but still very exciting.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

OK, so this is great news as far as the Standard Model is concerned. But isn't gravity still effectively missing from that model?

[jookyle]

Theatrics basically. Higgs is a "make or break" discovery for the Standard Model. Hence the nickname "God", given its importance.

No, it was given the name The God Particle in the book The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question? by Leon Ledermen.

Peter Higgs actually dislikes the term for two reasons:
1.It assumes the level of importance of the particle
2.He's an atheist

[brigadista]

so if they have found it ? what next?

[Sasha]

not much in the short run, but a big step towards proofing quantem-mechanics which in the long run should end us up with all kinds of exiting stuff.
i too hate the name "god-particle" but i liked the anology someone made "see it as the church finding proof that jezus was indeed the son of god, no way to know yet that the rest of the bible is true too but it makes it very likely. do not expect though to be able to ring up god next week"

[brigadista]

not much in the short run, but a big step towards proofing quantem-mechanics which in the long run should end us up with all kinds of exiting stuff.
i too hate the name "god-particle" but i liked the anology someone made "see it as the church finding proof that jezus was indeed the son of god, no way to know yet that the rest of the bible is true too but it makes it very likely. do not expect though to be able to ring up god next week"

i have heard that this will lead to new methods of communication - is this true? it would be great if anyone who knows about this stuff could explain what exciting stuff could arise from this discovery??
or post some links...:):)

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

The real question is: when will science be able to make hooverboards?

All that matters really.

[homegrown terror]

i have heard that this will lead to new methods of communication - is this true? it would be great if anyone who knows about this stuff could explain what exciting stuff could arise from this discovery??
or post some links...:):)

i think you mean information communication through quantum entaglement, which we've observed but are far, far away from being able to make use of in any manner.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

i think you mean information communication through quantum entaglement, which we've observed but are far, far away from being able to make use of in any manner.

I thought it was impossible to transfer information using quantum entanglement?

[homegrown terror]

I thought it was impossible to transfer information using quantum entanglement?

currently yes it's impossible. as we learn more about how it works and begin to identify patterns in it, it might be possible to use it as a means of truly instantaneous information transfer, or possibly for remote energy transfer. think of that: the possibility to power any device, anywhere in the universe, by remotely causing particle movement and thereby heat generation. that concept is truly mind boggling.

[Skyhilist]

The Higgs Boson walks into a church. A priest says, "We don't allow Higgs Bosons in the Catholic church." The Higgs Boson says, "But, without me, how can you have mass?"

[homegrown terror]

The Higgs Boson walks into a church. A priest says, "We don't allow Higgs Bosons in the Catholic church." The Higgs Boson says, "But, without me, how can you have mass?"

since the higgs give particles mass, and it's called the "god particle" does that mean that it's actually the opiate of the mass?

[Sasha]

and this is why you shouldnt call it the "god particle"; https://mobile.twitter.com/DerpParticle/tweets

oh dear... :blink:

[Beorc]

No, it was given the name The God Particle in the book The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question? by Leon Ledermen.

Peter Higgs actually dislikes the term for two reasons:
1.It assumes the level of importance of the particle
2.He's an atheist

I have faith in the gods and I dislike the name too.

The finding of this neither proves nor disproves religion in my eyes. It's just another piece of the puzzle.

[mew]

wtf who cares how about they discover a girlfriend, for me

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

wtf who cares how about they discover a girlfriend, for me

They're physicists, not cryptozoologists. Finding mythical creatures, such as a woman who'll willingly go to bed with you (without the assistance of powerful intoxicants) is not part of their job description.

[mew]

a woman who'll willingly go to bed with you (without the assistance of powerful intoxicants)
warning for rape jokes

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

warning for rape jokes

What rape jokes? You expressed an interest in consenting partners. I pointed out that maybe a physics thread isn't the best place to ask.

Try meeting people, that can work.

[Art Vandelay]

warning for rape jokes

It wasn't a rape joke, it was a joke about you not being able to find a sexual partner without relying on him/her being intoxicated.

[Mr. Natural]

God particle? I believe whatever this is if it's real could better be described as a "matrix relation." I don't believe "stuff" is the root of existence, but energized relations, patterns, processes, etc. The "things" of the cosmos emerge from these relations.

Erich Jantsch, who died at age 52, was a major student of Ilya Prigogine and a colleague of Fritjof Capra, and his book, The Self-Organizing Universe (1980) preceded and informed Capra's magisterial Web of Life (1996). Jantsch wrote, "God is not the creator, but the mind of the universe." In other words, the cosmos (and life) have creative organizational relations that keep them going. Life and the cosmos are a bootstrap of relations that create the things and keep on trucking.

But I'm no scientist. Did I just prove it?

[Hexen]

Found a a recent article that the "Higgs Boson" maybe an imposter....


Higgs Boson May Be An Imposter, Say Particle Physicists

At least two other particles could be masquerading as the God particle, according to a new analysis of the data from CERN
27 comments (http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428428/higgs-boson-may-be-an-imposter-say-particle/#comments)
http://www.technologyreview.com/contributor/kfc/avatar/thumb/36x36/Xb-logo.jpg (http://www.technologyreview.com/contributor/kfc/) The Physics arXiv Blog (http://www.technologyreview.com/contributor/kfc/)
Monday, July 9, 2012


http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/files/88445/Higgs%20imposter.png
The news coming out of CERN in recent weeks has been hard to miss. At first, there was a dripfeed of gossip which turned into a firehose of 'Higgsteria'. Finally, last Wednesday, CERN announced that it had found a new particle that is "consistent with the long-sought Higgs boson".
Note the phrasing. CERN has been careful not to claim that the new particle is the Higgs, only that it could be.
But if not the Higgs, what else might it be?
Today, Ian Low at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois and a couple of buddies comb through the data in an attempt to throw some light on this question. Their conclusion is that the data is consistent with at least two other particles that are not the standard Higgs boson.
Particle identification is not always an easy task. Physicists use a theory known as the Standard Model of particle physics to predict how particles should behave. In 1964, Peter Higgs and others used this theory to predict the existence of the Higgs particle. They said it should be heavy and that it should exist only fleetingly before decaying into various other particles.
In fact, its existence is so fleeting that the only way of spotting the Higgs is to look for the signature of particles that it produces, such as pairs of photons or pairs of other heavy particles called Z bosons.
The trouble is that this signature is not unique, at least not given the amount of data that CERN has so far collected.
Low and co say that given various assumptions about the data, there are several theoretical possibilities. One of these is that the data shows the Higgs boson as predicted by the Standard Model.
But another equally likely option is that the data is evidence of a more exotic theory in which the Higgs boson exists in several different forms. So the new particle might be one of these, examples of these are a generic Higgs doublet or a triplet imposter.
A final option is based on the idea that particles can exist in mixtures. So the new data does not show the Higgs but a mixture of it and some other particle.
Low and co analyse the data and come to the following conclusion. "A generic Higgs doublet and a triplet imposter give equally good fits to the measured event rates."
In particular, they say that the predicted signatures of the Higgs boson and the triplet imposter are both within one sigma of the measured value. And by one measure, the CERN data even favours the triplet imposter.
However, Low and co are quick to add that the Standard Model prediction is a slightly better fit overall.
The message here is that the data at this stage is far from conclusive and could support the existence of any of these three particles.
So now there is much to do to clarify exactly what it is that CERN has found.
As Low and co point out: "This is only the beginning of a challenging program of “Higgs Identification”.
Let the Higgsteria continue.
Ref: Have We Observed the Higgs (Imposter)? :arxiv.org/abs/1207.1093 (http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.1093)

TRSF: Read the Best New Science Fiction inspired by today’s emerging technologies. (http://www.technologyreview.com/sf/?cmp=TRSF_Arxiv)

Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428428/higgs-boson-may-be-an-imposter-say-particle/?ref=rss

I'm always been skeptical about this whole thing not to mention by calling it "God Particle" once again shows how deeply embedded Christianity is in our society.