MonkeyGG2
75 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
75 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
<p class="lead">You did it! You discovered the Higgs-boson!</p>
|
|
|
|
<section data-min-level="1">
|
|
<h4>The Higgs field</h4>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The Higgs-Englert field has a central role in our current understanding of the universe.
|
|
Through a process called <em>Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking</em>, it is responsible for the masses of all massive fundamental particles that we know of.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
<section data-min-level="5">
|
|
<h4>What is Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking?</h4>
|
|
<p>
|
|
At every point in space, the Higgs field has a certain <em>strength</em>, a number that tells you how active the field is.
|
|
This is quite similar to temperature: You can assign a temperature to every point in a room, and the temperatures might be different for different points in the room and even change with time.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The Higgs-Englert field is the most special fundamental field that we know of: It interacts with nearly all of the other fields (like the electron field or the quark fields).
|
|
This means that the Higgs field can greatly influence the other fields: If it is active somewhere, then electrons, quarks and other particles in that region will be slowed down by it.
|
|
This is equivalent to them gaining mass!
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
But if the Higgs field would have an average strength of zero (as is usual for a field), then we would not be able to observe this slowdown (meaning no mass for other particles).
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
So how come this is not the case?
|
|
It turns out that the Higgs field's <em>potential</em>, which governs how much energy is needed to increase its strength, has a very special form (see below).
|
|
If the energy density in the universe is low enough, the field will drop down into the valley in the potential.
|
|
This means it will be <em>locked to a non-zero strength</em>, and other particles gain mass everywhere in the universe!
|
|
</p>
|
|
<img src="http://www.quantumdiaries.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Higgs-Potential-lookdown.png" width=550></img>
|
|
<p style="float:right">
|
|
Source: <a href="http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2011/11/21/why-do-we-expect-a-higgs-boson-part-i-electroweak-symmetry-breaking/">Flip Tanedo</a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
<section data-min-level="10">
|
|
<h4>Higgs' contribution</h4>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking was discovered and explored by various different researchers.
|
|
But it was Peter Higgs who first proposed, in 1964, that we could find evidence of it by searching for a new fundamental particle, now called the <em>Higgs boson</em>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
<section data-min-level="15">
|
|
<h4>Discovery at the LHC</h4>
|
|
<p>
|
|
After decades of work, the discovery of the Higgs boson was announced in 2012 by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at CERN.
|
|
In 2013, Englert and Higgs received a Nobel Price for their contributions to the Higgs mechanism and the prediction of the Higgs particle.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
<section data-min-level="20">
|
|
<h4>The future of Higgs physics</h4>
|
|
<p>
|
|
You might think that we now know everything there is to know about the Higgs field, but it turns out that we actually know very little!
|
|
Questions like
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>What are the coupling strengths of the Higgs boson to itself?</li>
|
|
<li>Is there just one Higgs particle or could there more?</li>
|
|
<li>What is the role of the Higgs field in the early, mysterious <em>inflationary</em> phase of the universe?</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
are sure to have physicists on the edge of their seats for many years to come!
|
|
</p>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
<section data-min-level="1">
|
|
<h5><b>Resources</b></h5>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson" target="_blank">Higgs boson on Wikipedia</a></li>
|
|
<li data-min-level="5"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2011/11/21/why-do-we-expect-a-higgs-boson-part-i-electroweak-symmetry-breaking/">Quantum Diaries article on Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</section>
|
|
|