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L. Taylor / T. McCauley / CMS / CERN
This graphic records proton collision events in the Large Hadron Collider's Compact Muon Solenoid in which four high-energy electrons (shown as red towers) are observed. The event shows characteristics expected from the decay of a Higgs boson but is also consistent with background processes.
The latest results from the Large Hadron Collider serve as a reality check for expectations that radical scientific discoveries are just around the corner. A month ago, folks were buzzing about prospects that the elusive Higgs boson might soon be found. This week, they're talking about how the Higgs boson, as well as other exotic ideas such as supersymmetry and superstring theory, might be merely a will o' the wisp.
Reservations about the imminent revolution in particle physics cropped up in the wake of last week's Lepton Photon conference in Mumbai, India. Some observers speculated that fresh results could confirm an anomalous "bump" in earlier data from the LHC's two main detectors, ATLAS and the Compact Muon Solenoid.
Such a bump could suggest the mass-energy level where the Higgs boson was lurking. Detecting the Higgs boson, also known as the "God Particle," has been the main goal of the $10 billion particle collider on the French-Swiss border. Physicists are anxious to see it because it would be the last fundamental particle predicted by the Standard Model, one of physics' most successful theories. The Higgs mechanism could explain why some particles have mass while others don't.
Bye-bye, bump?
But instead of confirming the earlier bump in their data, researchers at Europe's CERN particle physics lab reported last week that "the significance of those fluctuations has slightly decreased." That led some observers to suggest that the Higgs boson "likely doesn't exist."
In fact, it's still too early to render a verdict. "Variations up and down on significance are to be expected," Fermilab physicist Don Lincoln, author of a book on the LHC titled "The Quantum Frontier," told me in an email today. "The two conferences are only a month apart, and things don't change hugely between them."
So far, the most significant findings from the LHC are those that have virtually ruled out broad areas of the mass-energy spectrum where the Higgs might have been detected — mostly in the range between 145 billion and 466 billion electron volts, with 95 percent certainty. There's a better chance of finding the Higgs at lower masses, below 145 billion electron volts, but that's going to be a trickier challenge for the high-powered LHC.
Sergio Bertolucci, CERN's research director, put an optimistic spin on the non-findings, declaring that "these are exciting times for particle physics."
"Discoveries are almost assured within the next 12 months," he said. "If the Higgs exists, the LHC experiments will soon find it. If it does not, its absence will point the way to new physics."
So long, supersymmetry?
That new physics could theoretically include supersymmetry and string theory, weird concepts that propose the existence of whole classes of yet-to-be-discovered particles (or "sparticles"). Such concepts represent a departure from the Standard Model, and for that reason physicists are looking closely for any anomalies that would open the way to new physics.
For those physicists, the latest data from the LHCb detector — which is particularly sensitive to matter-antimatter anomalies in the decay of B-mesons — might represent a bit of a letdown. Researchers reported in Mumbai that their measurements were "in agreement with the Standard Model prediction," although they said "there is still room for a new physics contribution."
A spokesperson for the LHCb experiment, Tara Shears of Liverpool University, told the BBC that her team's results "put supersymmetry on the spot." Other physicists are starting to wonder whether the concept will have to be discarded in favor of other exotic ideas, such as a fifth fundamental force known as technicolor.
For physicists, non-discoveries can be as valuable as discoveries. But if CERN's big machine doesn't produce some breakthrough physics, it's likely to be more difficult to sell taxpayers and politicians on the next big machine.
Years ago, CERN theoretical physicist John Ellis told me it "might be a little bit difficult to explain to our politicians, that here they gave us 10 billion of whatever, your favorite currency unit, and we didn't find the Higgs boson." Ellis and his colleagues don't have to provide that explanation just yet, but stay tuned. A year from now, physicists will either be struggling to explain the weird phenomena they're seeing ... or struggling to explain the absence of weird phenomena.
Update for 2 p.m. ET Sept. 1: The BBC's Pallab Ghosh revives hopes for the Higgs in a report saying that the "Higgs particle could be found by Christmas." Those expectations are based on a Quantum Diaries blog posting by University of Wisconsin researcher Richard Ruiz, who notes there's a chance that the LHC will collect enough data by the end of this year to make statistical judgments about whether the Standard Model's version of the Higgs exists or not over a broad range of possible masses.
Guido Tonelli, spokesman for the LHC's Compact Muon Solenoid experiment, told the BBC, "We could discover the Standard Model version of the Higgs boson or exclude it earlier than expected. Could we discover it by Christmas? In principle, yes."
There are several caveats: First, the forecast assumes that data will keep flowing from the LHC at its current better-than-predicted rate. Second, researchers are shifting their focus to regions of the mass spectrum where the results are more difficult to interpret, and therefore physicists may require more data than they originally expected. And third, the projections apply only to the kind of Higgs particle predicted by the Standard Model. A non-standard Higgs boson could still escape the net.
Fermilab's Lincoln says updated results from the LHC are due to be announced in mid-November at the Hadron Collider Physics symposium in Paris, so the situation may become clearer at that time. Stay tuned ... maybe we'll have something more definitive by Thanksgiving.
More about the LHC:
- Got a computer? Help out the atom smashers
- What's a hadron? Take a tour of the particle zoo
- Interactive: Inside the Big Bang Machine
- Special report on the Large Hadron Collider
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding me to your Google+ circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Leave a Comment:
It's too bad the such a large majority of the public has been "dumbed down" by the political left working in sync with their public school system partners, their common enemy is the educated (versus politically INDOCTRINATED) voter. However, it is these same educated voters who likely understand that what is NOT found is just as significant as what IS found when it comes to particle physics.
Except for the political mumbo jumbo, I agree. What is shown not to exist is in many cases as important as what does exist. It is all about perspective. They are not failing to find anything, they are instead finding out where not to look.
If there is no boson, or gravity particle... then that can only mean that energy itself is responsible for gravitation. Like a magnetic field... it's force is real, but there's no particle associated with it.
Gravity may be magnetism's weak force cousin.
My bet is that gravity is not a particle, but an energy field disrupted or absorbed by fundamental particles that directly interact with this field.
Maybe.. gravity is evenly distributed through out space already but matter causes it to clump around it. That's why you always measure from the center of a sphere, because that's where the pressure is equal.
10 Billion, and all you had to do was hire me to figure it out for 100 Million. Sorry man, you all lost that bet.
Why does some troll always have to try and make every discussion about partisan politics. This article has nothing to do with politics (other than obtaining funding which is not partisan), it is about particle physics. No matter what party you belong to, it would be hard to continue funding for these huge machines if there were no results to show for it. Please go crawl back under your rock and let the adults have a meaningful discussion about the topic of the article.
I certainly hope that they settle the question of the existence of the Higgs Boson in the near future. The proof of it's existence, or the proof that it does not exist will allow the next steps in particle physics to move forward. Settling the question will either validate or call into question the current Standard Model for particle physics. I also hope that work done at the LHC can help us look into ways that we might some day cover distances at a speed faster than the speed of light.
I was a student of physics long back. And I have always wondered about what a fundamental particle consists of? And if it consists of other particles then what makes it "fundamental"? In fact, more generally speaking, in objective science there always is an infinite string of "Why"s. Will there ever be a self-contained model that doesn't explain something in terms of externalities? That will be the ultimate nirvana....
But I guess until then it is important to keep asking "Why". Good job by the scientists! Keep it!
And finally "Aamachee Mumbai" ... proud of you for hosting such a magnificent conference.
The political left??? as opposed to those right wing creationist scientists??
I'm as right wing as they come, and I'm an atheist. The political left has controlled the educational system in the US for decades, and look at the results.
Ha ha ha ha ha! Sorry, kind of off topic, but- as I was reading the msnbc news tonight and read some of the "discussions" (I use that term loosely), I was struck by the same thing JS in SD mentioned. So, I decided to test a theory and try to find an article that would in no way, shape or form necessitate bipartisan political commentary, just to see if it, in fact, did have some. And of course, this nice article by Alan Boyle about the Large Hadron Collider and particle physics has proven my point.
Wake up, people! Your "left-wingers" AND "right-wingers" are exploiting the division they're sowing. They have us hoodwinked. And we're so self-righteous that we can't even discuss freaking physics without playing the blame game. The two-party system is dead. And any usefulness the bipartisan system once served is gone. And if you really want to waste your breath, rage, and fellow man's time, there are PLENTY of forums, blogs, boards and msnbc.com articles pertaining to the governmental excesses and idiocies of our modern times.
Sorry for ranting off topic.
The USA is not found in the list of financing nations in the Wikipedia entry for CERN, and I suggest Watson! demo what he is saying by allowing significance to this fact of absence.
As an inhabitant of Geneva - the city of the CERN and LHC - I am witness
Actually its God who made the right way past dumb, all the way to fascist overbearing destructive little people who want to control every facet of your life.
They cant run their own life, so now your it.
Learning and the right is an oxymoron.
Give me the left any day.
Sorry Space cadets but I cannot let this one pass.
@Watson. Your comment is based on inaccurate right wing propaganda and has nothing to do with this discussion.
Numerous studies have shown that the failure of the American education system is not in the education itself, but in the lack of family support of the school-age child. We're so wrapped up in our careers, our video games and ourselves that our children are being left to parent themselves.
When I was a child one parent worked, the other parent cared for the home and the children. Every evening I was asked "Do you have homework? What about math? English? History?" and so on until I hauled out the books and did my homework. No TV until the homework was done. Nowadays the kid goes to his room "to do his homework" where he has an entire entertainment center. He can play games, watch TV, surf the web, all while his oblivious parent assume he's doing his homework.
This isn't the fault of the teachers or the system or the left, it's the fault of the parents who have abandoned their parental duties to electronic diversions.
Blaming the education system, which is under-funded and under-staffed does not address the root of the problem which is the breakdown of the American family and the dereliction of the familial duty to nurture and encourage and actually PARENT their children.
So, why don't you go watch FOX NEWS or listen to Rush Limbaugh and delude yourself that this is all some kind of evil conspiracy by those commie pinko lefty liberals and let the rest of us to discuss this article without your political BS, hmmmm?
What I hate to see here is that you have 2 groups of idiots that wear pocket protectors. One group says it exists, the other says it likely may not. How much money has been given and spent for these supposedly smart people to figure out that they are dumb?
Why can't they just say that they don't know like a normal person? How much money will be wasted while they try to prove a dumbass theory that will amount to nothing in the end? Billions of dollars have been spent on this thing - and in the end it will tell us nothing of any value. They still won't know. We need to stop providing these morons with a blank check while our economies whither and die.
Watson, you idiot. Since you delve into the political, I'll indulge you.
In my state, the right has been in control of both state houses for decades.
And what the right has done here is year after year they continually UNDERFUND education.
There's nothing wrong with the school curriculum's. What's wrong is we cannot attract and retain enough good teachers because our teacher salaries outright suck thanks to the efforts of the rightwing.
.
Well put Skip.
The American Education System is flawed. Just ask the rest of the world. Whether it is the fault of the right or the left doesn't matter because the citizens own this system, not the right and not the left. If anyone doubts it is flawed, all the data you need to make up your mind is a comparison of the syllabus used from the early part of the twentieth century with that of today. If you blame the left for screwing up the schools, just examine the excellent job the NY City school system, in general staffed by lefties, did for the children of immigrants from the late 1800s up until the 1940s or so. And without this 'English as a second Language' gibberish.
All it takes to repair the school system is simply using the methods and syllabus that had proved so successful in the past. That includes reading, penmanship, mathematics taught in the method that proved successful to past generations, and some values. Patriotism, honesty and consideration for others. Obviously, history and geography material needs updating. Otherwise the old texts obviously worked better than those used today. Accomplishment in school is the 'feel good' reward the students need to seek. Hurting student's feelings? Not something we need to worry about. If they grow up to be unemployable, that's when their feelings are hurt.
And why has this note used the word 'obvious' and 'obviously' repetitively? Because what I state is so obvious to those who know the difference in knowledge between those who graduated high school decades ago and those who graduate today.
"The parents aren't doing their job..." In the times I alluded to, the parents couldn't even communicate with the parents, and the parents didn't even know the subject matter. Like true professionals, the teachers took charge and did the job.
Don't expect Watson to know anything about education given that the right wing promotes Creationism (also belief in gods and other crazy stuff) and under funded schools. Very dumb remark, just never seizes to amaze me how dumb right wing nutters are.
"We're so wrapped up in our careers, our video games"
Video games ? some kids can actually do both and more no problem, but yes it's about BOTH PARENTS having plenty of time to help their child into this crazy world.
Creationism? A metaphysical concept, not a scientific one. We should always remember a Jesuit anthropologist testified on behalf of the defense in the famous Scopes 'Monkey trial' All science, Jesuit and secular, knows the universe is so old, species come, go and morph as ages passes, the so-called "Big Bang", etc., etc. We should also respect the views of those who look into the sky on a clear night, or into the eyes of a new-born and see the hand of God is in all of it. And those who see this can be and are agnostics, religious people, scientists and even bloggers. One accepting the concept of a Creator cannot limit that Creator from making old rocks and fossils.
And they also understand the meaning of ten BILLION dollars down the drain. And where not to look? Not in a ten BILLION dollar piece of hardware.
You don't get it.
Regardless of what is found, we'll get a deeper understanding of quantum gravity, and that explanation could allow us to exploit or even control more fundamental forces of nature.
You people are so blind to the ridiculously awesome machines that have been made possible by physics, and frequently make the world a better place.
No they do not understand the advances in technology that even when information is not achieved based upon the expected results new pratical applications can be used from the results that have been achieved.
But what can you expect from those who sit around getting drunk after work watching t.v. and finding out ways to exploit human's to make them not believe in physics but rather be like they are drunk and mentally retarded.
Here we go! Ten Billion pieces of fabric, Who cares about money. It is about resources and discoveries to expand the current knowledge and therefore expanding products and expanding growth.
Money?
You think computers, modern medicine, and space ships grow on trees?
If it wasn't for these kind of people you would be still running around naked groaning and trying to kill each other with sticks and stones.
I think it is quite possible that one day we will be able to transform one particle onto another eliminating the finite resources.
I bet even then some people would still be screaming about Money.
On another note if we where to ever face a global catastrophe it is important to maintain the basic skills of survival. Technology is great when it works.
Balance!
Money money money. Only fools obsess over money.
You may call it your almighty dollar, but worshiping it doesn't get you into Heaven.
@MDB123
If they figure out how to change matter to energy and back again, the oil company's would just buy all the patents and keep us slaves to petrol. Matter-to-energy transformations would make science fiction technologies (like Star Trek transporters) a real posibility. You wouldn't need a car if you could instantly go there. ;)
@MDB123,
It is not necessarily the process of transforming one particle (I think you mean molecule) into another, for it is happening all around you; you breath in Oxygen, that O2 acts like a sponge and soaks up excess carbon in the cells, this creates the CO2 that you breath out. Trees breath in CO2 (yes, trees breath), using the energy of photosynthesis, smash that molecule to remove the Carbon to make more tree, they breath out the O2 and the cycle starts again.
Point being, I do not think it is the process but the SCALE, the energy required to create massive amounts of molecules and get them to bind and make the lattice work to make materials would probably outweigh the benefits.
Buddha,
Efficiency? Sure.
I was under the presumption that quantum entanglement defies that logic.
I guess what gets me going about quantum entanglement is years ago I had one of those removable tape head units in my car. I pulled it out one time when in VT and the thing still transmitted a signal to my amps in the rear of the car. No wires connected, power or otherwise, and It had enough power to raise and lower the volume and change the radio channel. Tape player didn't have enough power to operate. I played with it for about two minutes till the power ran out. I was one of four to witness it.
Sure it wasn't quantum entanglement but it shows me that modern logic has no explanation. Random? I think not!
Did you check out the Master Key System?
@MDB123,
I am not sure how quantum entanglement fits into this, please explain what you mean, for quantum entanglement happens on the micro scale, but molecules are on the macro scale; is it possible to entangle molecules???
BTW...Here is something cool to meditate on... quantum entanglement happens when two (or more) particles are created at the same time by the same event, right??? Well, was not all matter created at the same time by the same event, the Big Bang for example...
Now one thing I forgot to mention, in my last post, they are working on Self Assembling Meta Materials, mostly in optical, but if they can move this to other materials, you might just be right...
I did have a brief look at the Master Key System, I saw that it is the basis for the book "The Secret", my wife read that book, she said it was good, and that Bill Gates was a big fan of the Master Key System. I will check it out in detail later, I am really busy at work and I am studying for an exam right now, so not a lot of time for extra study if you know what I mean.
Recession left me behind. I am waiting to find some stairs or a ladder to climb. I am a self driven person with no where to drive.
Daddy housewife for now! :(
I know I am right about Quantum Entanglement. Just Know. One of those things that quantum entanglement supports. Crazy? Maybe? :)~
Best of luck!
Remember a little voice who always said you find the solution to gravity and mass elsewhere? Rumpelestitlskin or Anadish? Who was he?
Physics is way beyond the fabled connection to the environment.
How do we anticipate the God's environment which has been ruined by the God's people?
Gravity. Everyone knows what it does, no one knows how it works.
As for the thoughts that the Higgs-Boson doesn't exist and may not be a thing worth pursuing, I am enjoying some relief.
After all, having the Earth shrink to the size of a pea can really ruin your day
If it all shrank down at an equal rate, it probably wouldn't even really be noticeable.
The people with the theories that predicted the Higgs are the same ones who predicted the LHC safety when it "upgrades" to higher energy. It appears their theories are going to become verifiably wrong, notwithstanding how smug they were earlier that they were right. So where does that leave the safety question regarding the potential for creating strangelets from Lead on Lead at the higher energies, should the LHC do the "upgrade"?
electrons don't interact with Higgs..correct?
Hmmm... I tried to reply to this, but the reply ended up elsewhere. Electrons have mass, so they do interact witht the Higgs field.
If you read this:
Godlikeproductions(dot)com/forum1/message1616159/pg4
Humanity will understand,.....why this is happening....
If you read it all of course. If you read it all.....you will know that it's a mathematical proof that reveals the true nature of the universe.
Gravity is a property of a higher geometric standing wave, which has a property known as inertia. Gravity is simply the aggregate effect of many atoms in close locality "sharing vibration" to "self justify" their own tautology of a standing wave.
The reason this has been hidden from humanity is quite simple:
The next stage is the inertial drive, which can bend space and time. And the dark kabal doesn't want humanity to have that power.
But this will soon change...as they are finding out.
Scientists are self justifying their own models or not finding what they are looking for, because they are scanning at a granular resolution where the entropy is higher than the human mind. Hence, it acts as a mind reflector.
Finally, someone with a blog moniker that actually fits. You are F(ulla)crap!
So far the LHC has found:
no string/brane exotica,
no sparticles,
no WIMPs,
no supersymmetry exotica,
no extra-dimensions,
no mini-black holes,
no Randall-Sundrum gravitons,
no porker Higgsy,
and nothing beyond the considerably pre-LHC standard model, which has 26-30 adjustable parameters.
Then there is the 120 orders-of-magnitude vacuum energy density crisis.
The relevant question is: Do we keep adding epicycles to the faltering aged paradigm, or do we seek a revolutionary new paradigm? Perhaps a new paradigm derived from studying nature, rather than pseudo-science derived from hermetic mathematical abstractions.
RLO
Â
Robert, go here:
Godlikeproductions(dot)com/forum1/message1616159/pg4
Go to my site, you will find that new paradigm taking shape. Not a boast, real work.
Well, the standard model has worked fantastically. Some of its predictions have matched to physical expirements more closely than any theory in the history of science. So, I suppose they have some reason to be confident that they are on the right track. Now, to be sure, string theory is far more speculative they the standard model, and many of the things you listed are beyond the standard model.. but the Higgs is not.
Martin, perhaps the clever way that Robert phrased his criticisms of this project eluded you. Ptolemy's system of plotting epicycles was quite accurate indeed at predicting the paths and locations of the known and observable planets at that time (2500 years ago). It also happened to be completely wrong, as Copernicus, Kepler, Brahe, Galileo and others eventually proved. It took a completely new paradigm, the abandonment of geocentrism and the ascendency of the heliocentric model to finally give us an accurate understanding of the workings of the solar system.
Perhaps, with the failure of LIGO to detect gravity waves, the failure of the LHC to detect the Higg's boson, and the failure of anyone anywhere to detect this so-called "dark matter", it is time some theoreticans revist the assumptions upon which so much of these fanciful mathematically generated hypotheses are predicated and instead come up with a simple elegant solution to the conundrum, kept to a maximum of four dimensions if you please. Fractals are allowed. The guy that finally figures it out is going to be hailed as the next Einstein. Good luck gentlemen, sharpen your pencils and get to work.
I understand the epicycles reference. My point is that, the fact that the Higgs has not (perhaps yet) been found is hardly cause to refer to the standard model as "faltering", given its amazing successes in the not too distant past. Successes which are not only descriptive, but also predictive, which is the true test of a successful theory. Futhermore, I assure you that there are plenty of talented people who have never stopped working on alternative approaches, and are waiting for data to support their theories.
It can seem disjointed and long, as well as unrelated to the topic at hand. But it's basically what you are talking about.
matter is infinitely divisible and the universe is infinite...
.
There is no Gravity. The Earth sucks.
Its pathetic some teabaggers and rightwing nutjobs are trying to hijack the discussion of this article.
From what I understand this country owes its glory to liberal and libertarian thought. The university education here is still teh very best on the planet thanks to "liberals" !!
And by the way I was neither born nor raised here in America.
It is a matter of perspective. Why does everyone think that the laws of the universe are based on matter and not energy? The laws of the universe are written for energy. We and every other piece of matter have our time, or our measure of the passage of time based on the motions of particles of energy in 3D space. This leads to the 4+D world that we experience, measure, and try to prove. They smash matter together protons (matter)and they find electrons (energy). Why are there not any QCD models that have electrons making up any of the particles inside of a proton or neutron? They instead are based on magic zero spin particles which have never been proven. As they add more zero spin particles, the theories get less and less accurate.
I think someone else beat me to the idea of two dimensions of time and I have his name written down somewhere. I think I discovered the secret to gravity, but trying to prove it is not easy. After spending years using measurement devices to troubleshoot electronics and things that were happening on a different time scale the shape change needed to understand seems easy to me. It is a matter of perspective.
Long version (bad title)
http://tired2176559.newsvine.com/_news/2010/10/19/5315059-simplified-quantum-gravity
Shorter version
http://tired2176559.newsvine.com/_news/2011/01/09/5799478-gravity
As far as wasting 10 billion units of currency, I think it was money well spent. How else do you prove or disprove a theory? I understand why they are smug (I am too) about some things and require some sort of proof, but am confident being intelligent individuals they will see the light. Einstein needed others to help prove his theory as well.
The LHC and the quest for the Higgs clearly hold the world record (as measured by efforts and unity) in the undertaking of a difficult reality check for the sake of it. It is therefore quite ill-inspired to criticize the undertaking in terms implying the author to be a better champion at reality-checking.
Reality check?. How insulting is that! This is good necessary science. You just dont always find what ur looking for. But nevertheless our understanding of particle physics has exploded, and for that Higgs, we thank you.
Well, there shouldn't be anything insulting about a reality check if it's done right. ;-) It's absolutely good, necessary science. This illustrates how science is done - the daily grind of collecting data until there's enough to reach a conclusion. It's not easy work, and it usually takes more time than you expect. I do think that the next year will bring some definitive conclusions. If it turns out that there's no evidence of the Higgs, supersymmetry, extradimensional physics, dark matter particles, etc., that will pose deep puzzles for physicists. At the same time, they'll have to figure out how best to present it to the public, rather than merely saying that they're excited to find nothing.
Well said Alan. thank you. I Just dont want people who only read headlines to get the wrong idea. There are far too many who dont understand the importance of particle physics! A tree is just a tree without chlorophyl.......
Alan, thanks for the clarification. Your last phrase is beautiful.
Brightfutures, before taking in your pseudo I was going to say that had apparently escaped me that "reality check" to native speakers necessarily implies disappointment and lucidity attained against one's own consent to abandon one's own delusions.
To me such an implication, if it exists, has something diabolical related to what's called "100% hindsight". It belittles reality in the same motion it mocks others for having mis-measured it. The belittling occurs in turn because of the implication that is irrelevant the part of reality unknown or misrepresented by *all*. What's exactly the object of scientific research.
Finally, if LHC fails to observe anything new, I think it is insulting to the physicists to expect they would want similar efforts invested in a yet larger particle accelerator.
Nothing new here... just some filler. After all, Someone's gotta write Something each day.The whole thing is based on statistical analysis, check back in a year, maybe two.
I think people ought to realize - and it should have been pointed out better in the story - that not discovering what's expected is just as important as confirming a theory. It means that news ideas and theories need to be developed and tested.
Higgs Boson - Never been seen, measured, recorded, felt, smelt or experienced, yet it MUST be there to fit some or other theory!
God - unseen, immeasurable, unachievable to the wise mind - no way He could exist!
Not quite. There are detailed mathmatical and physical computations that predict the Higgs and precisely describe its properties. Similar computations predicted the existence of many other particles, such as the top quark and the omega-minus, which were subsequently confirmed expirementally and found to have exactly the properties predicted. This branch of science has a history of making very specific and detailed claims which turn out to be correct.
The article still doesn't explain all the particles they have identified with the collsions. Are there ANY new particles or at least new behaviors of known particles not seen before?
I believe that there are no new particles at all. This is a bit suprising when you compare to the 60s when new particles were being discovered in rapid succession. Only a bit suprising because there weren't many new particles predicted in this energy range.
Well said Alan, I am impressed. thank you
How bout antimatter bud.
I don't believe the Higgs Boson exists and will never be found, but I do however think that the Higg's effect is real and does account for the mass in particles.
Is this an obvious contradiction? Not to me. I believe it's more due to being that we actually exist in a multiverse, with many parallel universes coexisting in different dimensions. Most scientists who support the parallel universe theory believe that there would be no interaction between them and being limited to our three dimension reality, we have no awareness of any others than our own and if there are intelligent beings in any other parallel universes they also only experience their own in their three dimension reality.
However, I feel that some interactions between the different universes do exist at the quantum level where some particles or spacetime itself in some of the many possibilities may have one or more of the three dimensions they perceive of in common. Having a single dimension in common would at most consist of points with no width or length, so they would not appear to exist to us at all. I feel that these interactions between universes are the source of the Higg's effect that contribute mass to particles in our universe. Some of the other universes would have similar mass effects, while some with more interactions might have totally different physics with higher mass particles, others with similar or slightly different mass associations, and others with no interactions and no associated mass for particles at all. Universes with a very high, low, or no Higg's effect would probably consist of particles but not capable of them comprising matter, or at least not as we would know it.
Mike, I find it totally plausible that not only are there many more dimensions than we can presently detect, but that once you get beyond certain energy levels what we see as space-time has a counterpart that can be considered time-space, where unlike what we experience with space having multiple dimensions and time being linear, where Time has multiple dimensions and space is linear. This would be in addition to multiple timelines (branching-decision theory) and an entire anti-matter universe complex (space-time and time-space as well as it's own branching-decision multiple timelines.....and the kicker?? ALL of them are infinite!!
The problem is that the Shadow Government (consisting the Military-Industrial complex along with the banks, families and politicians that own them) ALREADY KNOW this information and have been keeping this info from us, refusing to fund public projects that will shed any sort of light on these subjects while at the same time shackling us with badly outdated fossil fuel technology that they already have a monopoly on so as to keep us controlled and unaware of what is really out there (like the zero-point energy and gravitational control and teleportation/time travel that they already have and desperately do not want US to realize that they have since it would end their monopolies and control systems). They keep us scared and fearful of each other, try to limit our communication, spread constant disinformation and work to keep us divided and fighting against each other so that we do not wake up and get together to bring THEM down. However, with the internet and enough people blowing whistles on so many of these very projects and inventors re-inventing things so fast, and sharing the knowledge, the old Shadow Government/Illuminati can no longer assassinate people fast enough nor can they put an absolute stop to the spread of this information, just like they can no longer hide their massive financial crimes and frauds which have robbed nearly ALL the people of ALL their money around the entire world. The Shadow Government is falling apart as we watch as the thieves gang up on each other now that they have nearly all the money and the only people left to steal it from is each other. This next year will be one of MANY big surprises and you will then be able to see that me and many others who have similar messages are not just a bunch of conspiracy theory crackpots, but instead are the ones who woke up and saw the conspiracies for what they are and did our homework so we could tell the rest of you about it. Watch for major earthshaking revelations.....we have been lied to for a VERY long time, and the TRUTH is finally coming to light!
How do magnets work?
There's tiny little magical fairies that live inside the magnets and they are each desperately searching for their equal and opposite soulmate. The tiny fairies fly back and forth between the ends of the magnets so fast that you can't see them and if they find their preferred partners, they stick togther like glue, but if they find more like themselves they fight and complain and resist and push apart. And that's how magnets work.
How do magnets work? From my experience, and that is expansive, they work really well.
The union magnets? Not so good! The immigrant ones? Good and cheap but they mail all their Gauss home.