Physicists managing the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
at CERN will make a big announcement next week in which they are expected to
confirm or deny the existence of the Higgs boson or “God particle”. That sounds
great and all, but what the heck is the “God particle” and why does it matter
if scientists confirm its existence?
You are reading this news article on a computer,
which takes up physical space. You have a body, hands, feet, head, mouth, all which
have volume and are able to bounce off, move, and interact with one another. The
fact that things have mass may seem like common sense to you, but, fact is,
scientists have no idea why
things have mass. They are perplexed as to why some particles (tiny portions of
the visible world around) give way to mass and some particles, such as photons which
make up light, have no mass whatsoever. In fact, the very existence of physical
things, which have mass, is perplexing because the Big Bang, according to
scientists, should have resulted in empty space, devoid of planets, stars, and anything
else which has physical volume.
To answer this “mass question,” 40 years ago, Peter
Higgs proposed the existence of an invisible field which gives all particles
its mass. This Higgs field, according to
him, is passing through your body and all around you to give you the mass you
have now. The field also passes through light particles, but because of photon
properties, the field does not give any mass to light. Think of particles and
the Higgs field as objects passing through a mud waterfall. Some objects, such
as a very smooth ball will not get covered in the mud. Others, such as a rug,
will be coated in the mud and thus have mass. Although it’s a simple concept,
nobody has ever proved the existence of the Higgs Field, which is why an
announcement about its existence is such a big deal. The latest rumours are that CERN scientists
will make an announcement next week, telling us that there are strong indications
of the Higgs field’s existence.
No, the “God Particle” or Higgs Boson has nothing
to do with God and its potential discovery will not prove the existence of some
otherworldly universe. It is a catchy name given by journalists, and one which
Peter Higgs does not approve of. Its existence,
however, would allow physicists to better understand our world, an understanding
which would allow scientists to make remarkable applications for bettering the
human race.
