Thread: Higgs boson 99% proven

Its cool because I heard new tests were proposed to find out its mass, with that the puzzle should be even more complete.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

Its cool because I heard new tests were proposed to find out its mass, with that the puzzle should be even more complete.

Find out the mass of the particle that gives particles mass? That's a bit confusing.

Originally Posted by Alric

It is like algebra, you might not know what the variable is but if you know everything else in the problem you can figure it out. We knew all the other pieces and so we should be able to predict what the missing part is.

I don't really know what you mean by 'figuring out what the variable is' and why it's pertinent to predicting new particles.

I have no idea what higgs boson is, but seems like it's something really important, so YAY i guess =P

I'll copy and paste what I wrote to my aunt about the topic:

you can think of a boson as a type of "messenger particle" that "tells" other particles what kind of mass they have, but basically it's just an essential, enigmatic piece of the standard model of particle physics that has evaded detection because of the amount of energy it takes for it to manifest in a collision. since it's the only part of the standard model that hasn't been verified experimentally up to now, therein lies its significance.

I'll add that that the statistical evidence has been gathered to beyond a five sigma threshold, which describes the validity of any particle and is universally accepted among particle physicists as a viable proof of existence. Also, I drove to Fermilab today just for the symbolic significance of the finding.

Oh I meant that we have formulas for figuring out the proprieties of things, based on what it is made up of. So it is like an equation. On one side is all the subatomic particles that make up say an atom and on the other is an atom. X would be the subatomic particle that gives mass and we knew everything else on both sides of the equation except for X, but if you work with the problem and do the math you can solve for X, and that is how we predicted the higgs boson.

I still don't really have any grasp of what you're talking about in concrete terms, sorry.

Originally Posted by Phion

I'll copy and paste what I wrote to my aunt about the topic:



I'll add that that the statistical evidence has been gathered to beyond a five sigma threshold, which describes the validity of any particle and is universally accepted among particle physicists as a viable proof of existence. Also, I drove to Fermilab today just for the symbolic significance of the finding.

Is it just me, or is your avatar cropped from a graph of a particle collision?

Originally Posted by Supernova

Is it just me, or is your avatar cropped from a graph of a particle collision?

Either that or a part of an electron-positron pair formation.

Originally Posted by Phion

I'll copy and paste what I wrote to my aunt about the topic:



I'll add that that the statistical evidence has been gathered to beyond a five sigma threshold, which describes the validity of any particle and is universally accepted among particle physicists as a viable proof of existence. Also, I drove to Fermilab today just for the symbolic significance of the finding.

But... how will it help? What can they do now, that they couldn't before knowing of this higgs boson?

English is not my first language, so this is not so clear to me

Originally Posted by littlezoe

But... how will it help? What can they do now, that they couldn't before knowing of this higgs boson?

.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

Btw It aint a huge discovery in terms of use. It helps fill in some blank spaces like in the superfluid spacetime theory (I think) but we still dont know the mass . None the less its a huge step forward. I read that it won't have much use for the super theories like string theory but I don't know loads on the subject.

Originally Posted by Supernova

Is it just me, or is your avatar cropped from a graph of a particle collision?

Close, but it's actually a colorized photo of an ion collision inside a bubble chamber, if you look closely you can see tangent lines marking direction of the particle movement.

Originally Posted by littlezoe

But... how will it help? What can they do now, that they couldn't before knowing of this higgs boson?

Well, the act of verifying theory via experiment is always considered progress in any science, especially physics. As I'm not a particle physicist myself, I would suspect that acknowledging the Higg's existence might lead to extensions of the standard model theory itself into other disciplines, some fine tuning, or being able to make certain assertions and assumptions that could lead to new innovations or breakthroughs in the field of science and technology in the future. Another piece of the puzzle is that since the standard model is now "complete," theorist may now also find better ways to unify the different and separate theories in the vast arena of physics since they have reasonably solid data to work from because of the discovery.

Matter-Energy Converters!!!
Cold Fusion!
Holodecks!
Time travel!

Guys.. I never thought I'd say this... but...

Here's a bit of updated drama happening at CERN: It's a boson, but what sort?

Originally Posted by Phion

Close, but it's actually a colorized photo of an ion collision inside a bubble chamber, if you look closely you can see tangent lines marking direction of the particle movement.

ions count...

Originally Posted by Supernova

ions count...

Yes, ions count, sorry if I've offended you.

I don't think you offended him, he was just confused why you said he was wrong and then confirmed what he said.

Originally Posted by Xei

I don't think you offended him, he was just confused why you said he was wrong and then confirmed what he said.

I don't believe I ever implied he was wrong about anything, just that his statement about my avatar was "close" not necessarily wrong.

'Close but actually' means incorrect...

Whatever, just sticking up for Nova who didn't seem particularly upset.

Originally Posted by Xei

'Close but actually' means incorrect...

Whatever, just sticking up for Nova who didn't seem particularly upset.

It means that I didn't agree with his statement about my avatar, that's all. I'm happy that you seem to take my words as automatic truths since he's so incorrect about something inconsequential to anything regarding a Higg's boson in your fine opinion. I doubt Nova needs to you stick up for him.

...okay dude.

Maybe we can now start making propulsion/repulsion gels.

Hey, take it easy guys. Maybe it's a hydrogen ion.