4 July 2012. CERN announces the existence of the much-coveted Higgs boson, or God particle. And with this a new chapter in particle physics is unveiled. As well as answering some important questions related to the existence of the universe. But what is this God particle? Why this name?
When we think of the creation and existence of the universe, the first thing that comes to mind is the idea of ​​particles and balls. The whole world stands on these two main foundations. From tiny particles to large galaxies, all are aggregates of particles. The active forces within them have stabilized the entire universe. We live in this universe of particles and forces.
When it comes to particles, naturally the basic particles come first. Basic particles are those particles that can no longer be broken down into smaller parts. Such as electrons. Protons and neutrons, on the other hand, are not elementary particles. They consist of multiple quarks. According to the information known so far, quarks are elementary particles. Physicists have developed a standard model for easy understanding of this vast universe of particles. This is called the Standard Model of Elementary Particles. Particle physicists formulated this model in the 70's of the last century. This model is a universally accepted theory in the scientific community to get an idea of ​​the nature of elementary particles and their interaction with elemental forces.
According to this model, all the elementary particles are divided into two main parts. One part is called 'Fermion' and the other part is called 'Boson'. The fermion particle is the 'building block' of this universe. These combine with each other to form all matter. Boson particles, on the other hand, are fundamental force particles. They carry the basic forces and control how the forces work.
Fermions are roughly divided into two classes - quark and lepton. Quark again has six types- Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Charm and Strange. Electrons and their variants, on the other hand, include leptons. The main difference between quarks and leptons is that quarks feel strong, but leptons do not.
Now let's talk about Boson. I already know that the basic force particles are boson particles. These particles are graviton, photon, gluon and W-Z boson. The four basic forces that exist in nature are the gravitational force, the electromagnetic force, the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force. Graviton is thought to be the carrier of the gravitational ball, although no conclusive evidence has yet been found for the existence of these particles. However, scientists believe that these particles must exist.
Among other bosons, photons carry electromagnetic energy and gluons carry strong nuclear forces, which hold the neutrons and protons together in the nucleus. The W and Z bosons, on the other hand, are responsible for the weak nuclear ball, resulting in beta-decay in the radioactive nucleus. There is another type of boson particle called the Higgs boson. This particle is the main topic of our discussion.
Higgs particles were first discovered in 2012. But in the sixties of the last century these Higgs particles were predicted by a few other physicists, including Peter Higgs. But to know how it was possible to predict the existence of such a particle, we need to look at the pages of history.
The first thing that comes to mind after the concept of balls and particles is clear is that mass is a big reason for the existence of the universe. Objects are made up of particles, again this universe is made up of innumerable objects. So without the mass of matter and particles, no large or small object in the universe could be formed. So where does the mass of these elementary particles (particles that can no longer be broken) come from? Again, not all particles have that mass. Such photons have no mass. Scientists did not understand why some sub-atomic particles are related to mass and some particles are massless.
In 1964, Peter Higgs, a British physicist, came up with the idea of ​​a field that could be related to the existence of the universe. That hypothetical field is called Higgs field or Higgs field. According to this idea this universe is covered by huge Higgs fields. The interaction of the elementary particles with the field as they pass through this field gives them mass. Some particles interact more with the Higgs field as a result of which they gain more mass while some particles gain less mass as a result of less action.
The pond water can be imagined as the Higgs field to make the matter easier to understand. If a fish is left in the water, the fish can easily penetrate the water and move forward. Because of its small size it will come in less contact with water resulting in less obstruction. On the other hand, in the case of a human being, due to the large size, his body will come in contact with more water, so the amount of obstruction will be more; Compared to the Higgs field, it can be said that it will gain more mass. But the larger the size, the more mass it will gain, depending on how much the particle interacts with the Higgs field. For example, the photon particle does not interact with the field as it passes through the Higgs field. As a result, the photon does not gain any mass. Quarks, on the other hand, interact directly with the field as it passes through it, gaining mass.
The pond water can be imagined as the Higgs field to make the matter easier to understand. If a fish is left in the water, the fish can easily penetrate the water and move forward. Because of its small size it will come in less contact with water resulting in less obstruction. On the other hand, in the case of a human being, due to the large size, his body will come in contact with more water, so the amount of obstruction will be more; Compared to the Higgs field, it can be said that it will gain more mass. But the larger the size, the more mass it will gain, depending on how much the particle interacts with the Higgs field. For example, the photon particle does not interact with the field as it passes through the Higgs field. As a result, the photon does not gain any mass. Quarks, on the other hand, interact directly with the field as it passes through it, gaining mass.
So how does the Higgs boson relate to the Higgs field? In quantum physics, elementary particles are considered fields, not particles or waves. That is, all elementary particles have different fields. The whole universe is covered by such different types of fields and these fields interact with each other. When these fields can be stimulated, the particles or waves associated with that field come out. And only then can we observe it. For example, when the electromagnetic field is excited, photons come out. Similarly, the particle related to the Higgs field is the Higgs boson. It is the smallest part of the Higgs field. Again if we look at the example of water we will all agree that water is an uninterrupted medium. Although water is made up of numerous molecules, there is apparently no gap in water. Similarly, the Higgs field is an uninterrupted field composed of countless Higgs boson particles.
When Peter Higgs gave the idea of ​​the Higgs field, it was not recognized, not because there was a mathematical error. On the contrary, no one could digest the fact that the invisible field is giving force to the particles. But Peter Higgs did not stop there. There has been a lot of research based on the mathematical equations given by him but it was not possible to find the Higgs boson. How much energy is needed to excite a field depends on the mass of the particles associated with that field. The mass of the Higgs boson particle is much greater than that of the photon. The Higgs particle decays again as it forms. For all these reasons, it was almost impossible to find Higgs particles.
The world's largest particle accelerator, the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), was created in 2008 to solve this problem. LHC, CERN's largest particle accelerator which is a tube about 27 km long. With the help of thousands of powerful magnets inside it, two inversely charged proton beams collide at a speed almost equal to that of light (99.9%). This collision creates a situation just like the Big Bang, in which sub-atomic particles come out. Since the Higgs is an invisible field, it is not possible to observe it directly. So such a collision creates a stir in the Higgs field which causes the Higgs particles to come out. The problem was that the Higgs particle decayed in a very short time and then turned into another particle. So scientists continue to look for this decay pattern obtained from equations in experimental data. But even then the task was not easy.
Large Hadron Collider;Â Image source: CERN).
Finally, on July 4, 2012, LHC test results revealed the existence of a new particle whose mass was approximately equal to that of the Higgs particle. As a result, the existence of the desired Higgs particle can be confirmed. When CERN scientists announced that they had discovered the Higgs boson, they actually proved that the Higgs field proposed by Peter Higgs existed. British physicist Peter Higgs and Belgian physicist Franchois Englert were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2013 for predicting the existence of such particles.
françois Englert and Peter W. Higgs; Image source: CERN
After the discovery of the Higgs boson, there was a lot of buzz in the news media in Bangladesh. It may seem unusual to talk so much about a scientific discovery in this country. But the reason is hidden in the Higgs boson word 'boson'. The word boson is derived from the name of Satyen Bose, a professor of physics at Dhaka University in the twenties of the last century. Why is the boson particle named after him? He and Einstein introduced a quantum numbering called Bose-Einstein numbering that the principle of numbering adheres to the particles in this division. This is why this class of particles is named boson. The Higgs boson is named because the Higgs particle also adheres to the characteristics of this part. That is, Satyen Bose was not the Higgs particle inventor. Satyen Bose was the inventor of the part in which the character of the Higgs particle falls according to the standard model of particle physics.
Evidence for the Higgs boson, or Higgs field, is an important discovery for physics as a whole. Without the Higgs field, the formation of any atom would not be possible. Which means that this universe did not exist. The Higgs field is different from other ball fields. The value of this field is the same everywhere. So if we can get a clear idea about the Higgs field, it will be easier to unravel the other mysteries of the universe. Another important reason is that the Higgs particle is also different from other elementary particles. It is the only particle that has no spin. No such results have been found in practice before, except in mathematical equations. These are the reasons why the Higgs boson is so important.
By now we have realized that the Higgs boson, or Higgs field, confirms a great cause for the existence of this universe, but it has nothing to do with the existence of God. So how did the name 'God particle' come about?
In fact, you have an accident! Scientists realized that the Higgs field must exist. Because otherwise the standard model of particle physics would not be complete and the reason for the mass gain of the basic particle could not be explained. So since Peter Higgs got the idea, scientists have been trying to find this particle. But it could not be found at all. Meanwhile, in the early nineties, another Nobel laureate physicist, Leo Ladderman, wrote a comic book based on the Higgs boson, entitled The Goddam Particle. But the publisher thought the 'Damn' part was rude and left it out and named the book 'The God Particle'. Since then, the Higgs boson has been known to most people as the God Particle.
references:
The Standard Model
Discoverers of Higgs boson, a.k.a. "the God particle," awarded Nobel Prize in physics
The Large Hadron Collider
The Higgs Boson and the Nobel: Why We Call It the 'God Particle'
Particle Quantum Introduction - Touhidur Rahman Uday
Quantum Physics - Abdul Gaffar Rony
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