After many decades of searching, CERN– the European Organization for Nuclear Research- may have just caught their first glimpse of the Higgs Boson. Also known as the God Particle for its elusiveness and significance, the Higgs particle is one of the final pieces of the subatomic puzzle that physicists worldwide are trying to solve in order to fully-understand the laws of our Universe.
CERN’s official statement on the LHC’s recent results and plans of further testing. 13 Dec 2011
But what exactly is this particle, and how has it eluded us for so long? First, The Standard Model of Physics predicts that the origins of mass must come down to a large field- one which surrounds us and pulls on us to supply the known masses in the Universe. In order for such a field to exist, a particle must exist at its core to provide this property, which has been named the Higgs Boson after Dr. Peter Higgs: a theoretical physicist at Edinburgh University. Until December though, most information about this mysterious particle was presented as theory rather than measurable evidence.
It was then that CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC)- the largest particle accelerator in the world- had found signs of a possible Higgs Boson. This was done by colliding two protons at near-light speeds to observe what new matter may be created; this same technique may also discover the sources of dark matter, dark energy, and even the evidence of extra dimensions among other wonders in the Universe. As stated by Sir Martin Rees, the current Astronomer Royal of Britain:
“The LHC will generate, in a microscopic region where beams of particles collide, a concentration of energy that has never been achieved before – a concentration that mimics, in microcosm, the conditions that prevailed in the universe during the first trillionth of a second after the big bang.”
After these protons were destroyed by this massive amount of energy created in the collision, large detectors scoured the site to detect whether any anomalies had occurred. Through these detectors, signal spikes arose in areas where it is deemed likely this Higgs Boson is located; however, there is still an estimated 1% chance that these fluctuations in December were caused by random events. As a result, previous plans to shut down the LHC until 2014 to increase power output have been disregarded, and testing will continue onward well into 2012 to ensure consistently in data. If the accelerator continues to run smoothly, CERN plans to have the God particle isolated by the end of the year. However, this deadline seems rather ambitious considering the LHC’s recent history of shutdowns, including causes from electrical issues, coolant leaks, animal interventions and helium leakages among others since 2008. The magnitude of the discovery further adds to the scepticism that the particle could be isolated so quickly. Nevertheless, the scientific community will wait patiently to hear the results of the world’s largest accelerator.
Dark matter and dark energy will have to wait, it seems.
References
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/dec/13/higgs-boson-lhc-explained?intcmp=239
