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The Higgs Field and Higgs Boson: Final Pieces of the Natural Law Puzzle About To Be Resolved By Jeanette Schreiber The largest global partnership of physicists in history is working toward “the greatest experiment in the history of particle physics”(Atom-Smasher.1),expected to come on line in late summer of 2008. One of the key drivers of this great experiment is the search for the ‘God particle’ – better known as the Higgs boson. “When physicists are forced to give a single-word answer to the question of why we are building the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), we usually reply ‘Higgs.’ The Higgs particle – the last remaining undiscovered piece of our current theory of matter – is the marquee attraction” (Quigg.2). Confirming the existence of the Higgs field and the Higgs boson, in the next year or so, would provide the final proof of the Standard Model – the particle physics theory of the laws of nature and, most particularly, the laws of mass. Theorizing the “Why” of Mass As Newton defined mass in 1687,“The quantity of matter is the measure of the same, arising from the density and bulk conjointly”(Principia.IV). This definition provides the ‘what’ of mass but not the ‘why’ and, over the last half-century, physicists have moved forward to focus on the elemental reasons why particles – and therefore most things Schreiber 2 – have mass. Understanding the reasons why particles have mass and why specific types of particles have specific quantities of mass, scientists will come full circle in understanding the Standard Model and the interactions of various forces and particles in our universe. The challenge of understanding mass has two different components: first, we must learn how mass arises at all and then why specific particles have specific mass. A key part of physicist’s tentative theories about mass is a kind of field that permeates all of space, called the Higgs field, named after Peter Higgs who first proposed spontaneous symmetry-breaking as part of the Standard Model. The second component deals with the question of why different species of elementary particles have specific mass. Scientists know that different particles have “intrinsic masses that span at least 11 orders of magnitude“(Kane.1) but do not know why. According to the scientists at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, “The Higgs field is a quantum field...all elementary particles arise as quanta of a corresponding quantum field. The Higgs boson is the mediating particle of the proposed silent Higgs field...and gets its mass like all other particles: by interacting with (swimming in) the Higgs field” (Fermilab.fnal.gov). Schreiber 3 Because the Higgs field is a “silent field” that imparts mass, it cannot be directly probed. However, as the “mediator”, the Higgs boson – if identified – will also prove the existence of the Higgs field thus supporting the theory explaining how particles get mass. We can calculate, based on the energy and momentum of a particle, that specific particles have specific masses using a form of the formula where, “energy = kinetic energy + mass*speed of light2” (Fermilab.fnl.gov). However, we do not know why specific particles have specific masses – i.e., why neutrinos are lighter than electrons, for example. Complex quantum physics provides a structure for establishing the mass of specific particles and subparticles using a Lagrangian – “a mathematical function which represents how the various particles interact” (Kane.1). Scientists understand that the Standard Model “requires only one Higgs field to generate all the elementary particle masses” but many physicists believe that there is a more complete model that describes a much more complex set of particles. Higgs particle interactions with other particles will provide additional information about its relative impact on the mass of different particles and, potentially, expand the model’s description. Theories that extend the Standard Model and seem most Schreiber 4 likely to be correct are known as Supersymmetric Standard Models (SSMs.) A key component of the SSMs is the superpartner associated with each standard particle with similar properties. SSMs expand the complexity of the Higgs field (requiring at least two) and five kinds of Higgs bosons. This added complexity is necessary to support development of specific mass in specific types of particles and sub-particles fully describing the Standard Model theory extensions. Testing the Theory Scientists have been using powerful particle accelerators since the late 1950’s but have not been successful in identifying the Higgs boson to date. Fermilab – “recognized worldwide as a laboratory where advances in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology converge” (fnal.gov) – in Batavia, Illinois is currently looking for the Higgs boson using the Tevatron Collider at the National Accelerator Laboratory. Late this summer, CERN (European Council for Nuclear Research) will come on line with the Large Hydron Collider (LHC) at the European Laboratory for particle physics near Geneva, Switzerland. As physicists continue to work on isolating the Higgs boson through the current efforts at Fermilab and the even more powerful resources of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider once Schreiber 5 active, they are challenged by the apparently massive scale of this particle. The large mass of the Higgs boson requires very high energy and high intensity beams to create the fission necessary to isolate the Higgs boson particle. In the past, neither Fermilab nor CERN have been able to generate the energy necessary to identify the Higgs boson, although they both contend they have come close. If Fermilab does not find the Higgs boson earlier, most scientists believe that the LHC will identify it soon after coming fully on line in late 2008 or early 2009. Once this is accomplished, scientists may confirm the existence of the unique particle called the Higgs boson. “If confident they have succeeded, they will provide further confirmation that the theories of the Higgs boson and, consequently, the Higgs field are fact” (Kane.4). In addition, because of the SSM theories postulating that there are “different sets of Higgs fields implying different sets of Higgs bosons with various properties”(Elusive Particle.3), tests centered on distinguishing these differences will extend the support for the final proof of extensions of the Standard Model theory – Supersymmetric Standard Models. Late 2008 or early 2009 stands as the horizon for finally confirming the natural law theories, associated Schreiber 6 with the Standard Model and its extensions, proposed and tested by myriads of physicists over the last fifty-plus years. The most challenging proof – that of the Higgs boson(s) and the Higgs field(s) – potentially offer the answers to why particles have mass and why specific particles have specific masses. These questions will likely be answered at that time and will provide a primary platform for additional study of particle physics and cosmology in our solar system and beyond. Schreiber 7 Works Cited Blanford, Glenn. Fermilab. Inquiring Minds – Questions about Physics. Particle Mass Measurement. http://www.fnal.gov/pub/inquiring/questions/particlemassmsm t.html Ingham, Richard. “Atom-Smasher Gears Up to Find ‘God Particle’”. Discovery Channel. March 24, 2008. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/03/24/atom-particlecern-print.html Kane, Gordon. “The Mysteries of Mass”. Scientific American. June 27, 2005. Minkel, J.R. “Searching for an Elusive Particle, Physicists Take a Shot in the Dark”. Scientific American. April 29, 2008. Newton, Isaac. Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. 1687. Translated by Andrew Motte. 1729. Quigg, Chris. “The Coming Revolutions in Particle Physics”. Scientific American. January 17, 2008. Riesselmann. Kurt. Inquiring Minds – Questions about Physics. Higgs Boson. http://www.fnal.gov/pub/inquiring/questions/higgsboson.html Schreiber 8