How to use this Page

We’re celebrating the release of Higgs: The Invention and Discovery of the ‘God Particle’ with a series of posts by science writer Jim Baggott over the week to explain some of the mysteries of the Higgs boson. Read the previous posts: “What is the Higgs boson?” and “Why is the Higgs boson called the ‘god particle’?”

By Jim Baggott

Experimental physicists are by nature very cautious people, often reluctant to speculate beyond the boundaries defined by the evidence at hand.

Although the Higgs mechanism is responsible for the acquisition of mass, the theory does not give a precise prediction for the mass of the Higgs boson itself. The search for the Higgs boson, both at Fermilab’s Tevatron collider and CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), has therefore involved elaborate calculations of all the different ways a Higgs boson might be created in high-energy particle collisions, and all the different ways it may decay into other elementary particles.

At CERN, the attentions of physicists working in the two main detector collaborations, ATLAS and CMS, have been drawn to Higgs decay pathways involving the production of two photons (which we write as H → γγ), a pathway leading to two Z bosons and thence four leptons (particles such as electrons and positrons, written H → ZZ → ι⁺ι^-ι⁺ι^-) and a pathway leading to two W particles and thence to two leptons and two neutrinos (H → W⁺W^- → ι⁺υ ι^-υ).

Finding the Higgs boson is then a matter of looking for its decay products — in this case the photons and leptons that result — at all the different masses that the Higgs may in theory possess. Just to make life more difficult, at the particle collision energies available at the LHC, there are lots of other processes that can produce photons and leptons, and this background must be calculated and subtracted from the observed decay events. Any events above background that produce two photons, four leptons or two leptons (and ‘missing’ energy, as neutrinos cannot be detected) then contribute to the evidence for the Higgs boson.

What the CERN scientists announced on 4 July was a statistically significant excess of decay events consistent with a Higgs boson with a mass between 125-126 billion electron volts, about 134 times the mass of a proton. This is definitely a new boson, one that decays very much like a Higgs boson is expected to decay. But, until the scientists can gather more data on its physical properties, they can’t say for sure precisely what kind of boson it is.

It’s also important to note that although the Higgs boson is predicted by the standard model of particle physics, there are theories that also predict the existence of a Higgs boson (actually, they predict many Higgs bosons). Until the scientists gather more data, they can’t be sure the new particle is precisely the particle predicted by the standard model.

We just need to be patient and stay tuned.

Jim Baggott is author of Higgs: The Invention and Discovery of the ‘God Particle’ and a freelance science writer. He was a lecturer in chemistry at the University of Reading but left to pursue a business career, where he first worked with Shell International Petroleum Company and then as an independent business consultant and trainer. His many books include Atomic: The First War of Physics (Icon, 2009), Beyond Measure: Modern Physics, Philosophy and the Meaning of Quantum Theory (OUP, 2003), A Beginner’s Guide to Reality (Penguin, 2005), and A Quantum Story: A History in 40 Moments (OUP, 2010). Read his previous blog posts.

On 4 July 2012, scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) facility in Geneva announced the discovery of a new elementary particle they believe is consistent with the long-sought Higgs boson, or ‘god particle’. Our understanding of the fundamental nature of matter — everything in our visible universe and everything we are — is about to take a giant leap forward. So, what is the Higgs boson and why is it so important? What role does it play in the structure of material substance? We’re celebrating the release of Higgs: The Invention and Discovery of the ‘God Particle’ with a series of posts by science writer Jim Baggott over the week to explain some of the mysteries of the Higgs. Read the previous posts: “What is the Higgs boson?” and “Why is the Higgs boson called the ‘god particle’?”

Subscribe to the OUPblog via email or RSS.
Subscribe to only physics and chemistry articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS.
View more about this book on the  

Image via Wikipedia

It’s time for your semi-annual visit to your dentist. What better way to pass the time than to read a fortune cookie saying. Here are fifteen sayings from your dentist for your amusement:

1. A smile will get you everywhere unless you have a mouth full of rotten teeth.
2. Go ahead and eat all the sweets that you like. After all, you are supporting my son’s education.
3. It is impolite to floss in front of your girlfriend.
4. It’s time that you got at the root of your problems.
5. Hey, hey, hey, you have a lot of decay.
6. You will soon get a thrill at our powerful new drill.
7. You do not get gum disease by chewing gum.
8. Brace yourself for this important message. Your daughter needs braces.
9. Getting a crown on your tooth does not make you a King.
10. You’ll never pass the kissing test if your mouth has bad breath.
11. Make haste and go out and buy some toothpaste.
12. Never pick at your teeth with a fork.
13. Green teeth are not pretty or natural unless your name is Shrek.
14. Vampires should gargle twice a day with blood after brushing their teeth.
15. The tooth fairy is not real. Deal with it!

Hey you!

Done for Illustration Friday's prompt: Stitch. Acrylic and colored pencils on scrapbook paper.

Hey you!

Hey you!

Definitely check out this Max and Pinky ecard that the good people at Random House put together. It's got a game where Max and Pinky have to gather as many marshmallows as they can before the critters all take them away. What could be more fun than that! I'm having a hard time thinking of anything...

Enjoy!

For those of you who weren't able to attend the NY Times Great Children's Read this past weekend at Columbia University (you know who you are), here's a snappy (a picture) courtesy of Ed Forbes.

Blah, blah, blah.

Upper Saranac Lake and Middle Saranac Lake.

I'm a big fan of maps.

That was probably the dorkiest statement I've made today. Sorry about that.

Is it August already? Then where's the August Drawing? Three days late! I tried my best but the washes were bleeding and they weren't drying because of this crazy heat and humidity. Shoot, now you can track me down based on nationwide weather trends. Or you can just check the back jacket flap of Best Buds. Nevermind.

The July Drawing winner was just randomly selected, and it is Jeremy from Portland, Oregon!

You know Jeremy? From Portland, Oregon? Come on, you've met him a million times! How can you forget? Geez!


Anyway, congratulations, Jeremy, and thanks to everyone who entered!

Now don't forget to enter again for this month's drawing. The last coat of wash is drying on it, so I won't be able to post it until tomorrow. But be sure to check it out!

It's fun, it's free, and it only costs the author postage. Everyone's a winner!

http://www.maxandpinky.com/drawing.htm