Let’s learn about Higgs Boson Paricle. The existence of everything from the great vast universe, the planets, the stars to the small subatomic particles such as: protons and neutrons can be explained by one equation called the standard model. This mathematical model describes the fundamental forces of interaction (except gravity) and particle’s nature as shown in the figure below.
The Standard Model consists of 17 fundamental particles. They are split into two groups: the fermions and the bosons.
The fermions are the building blocks of matter. There are 12 fermions, split into six quarks and six leptons. Of the familiar subatomic particles of an atom, electrons are a lepton while protons and neutrons are not part of the Standard Model because they are bigger particles made out of quarks. [1]
Meanwhile, only five bosons are responsible for all of the interactions between matter. They carry three of the four fundamental forces in nature: the strong force, the weak force and electromagnetism.[1]
The strong force is carried by the aptly named gluon. It holds quarks together to make protons, neutrons and more exotic large particles.[1]
The weak force causes radioactive decay thanks to the W and Z bosons.[1]
Electromagnetic force is carried by the photon. It is responsible for magnetism and electricity, but also holds atoms together and even stops us from walking through walls.[1]
The fourth, missing force – gravity – is very weak in the atomic scale therefore its effect on elementary particles is negligible.
The rise of the Higgs Boson Theory
However, this model has a flaw, the standard model doesn’t allow for particles to have mass. This didn’t explain why some elementary particles such as Z and W bosons have large masses while other particles such as photons that obey the theory have no masses all and here where the story of the Higgs boson particle starts. The Higgs boson was first described in a scientific paper written by Peter Higgs in 1964 when scientist tried to understand one of the four fundamental forces, the weak force.
The Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism proposed to new ideas: an entirely new quantum field, which is the Higgs field, and the spontaneous symmetry breaking. The spontaneous symmetry breaking hypothesis that when the universe was born, it was filled with the Higgs field in an unstable – but symmetrical – state. After a fraction of second, the field found a stable configuration, but one that breaks the initial symmetry. In this configuration, the equations remain symmetrical, but the broken symmetry of the Higgs field gives rise to the masses of the W and Z bosons. [2] Also, this can be easily explained by a more common phenomenon, that is the trying to balance a pencil by its tip (governed by the principle of unstable equilibrium).
The Discovery of the Particle
Since every quantum field can be represented by waves or vibrations of its specific particles, the theorized Higgs field would exist only if a particle associated was discovered and matches the predictions described in the BEH theory.
‘Experiments searched for the massive Higgs boson at the highest-energy particle-accelerator colliders, in particular the Tevatron at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). On July 4, 2012, scientists at the LHC announced that they had detected an interesting signal that was likely from a Higgs boson with a mass of 125–126 gigaelectron volts (billion electron volts; GeV). Further data was needed to definitively confirm those observations, and such confirmation was announced in March 2013’.[3]
The following image shows the collision course and trajectory of the ejected particles from the collision.
The discovery of this particles created new opportunity for both quantum and molecular physicists to test new theories that might contribute in the understanding of the cosmos and beyond the borders of the observable universe. And leading the way for the upcoming generations of ambitious and curious explorers.
References:
[1]The standard model | institute of physics. Available at: https://www.iop.org/explore-physics/big-ideas-physics/standard-model (Accessed: 27 October 2024).
[2]What’s so special about the higgs boson? (no date) CERN. Available at: https://home.cern/science/physics/higgs-boson/what (Accessed: 27 October 2024).
Written By: Dalia Hassan Alzeyoudi
Part of: Quantum Narratives