• The Higgs Boson is Actually the Higgs Boson
    76 replies, posted
[quote]Say hello to Higgs. New data confirms that the unsatisfyingly named "Higgs-like particle" announced at CERN last year really is a Higgs boson. Back then, the particle's discoverers were sure it was a boson, one of two types of elementary particle, and that its mass was about 126 GeV. But their data couldn't reveal all its properties.[/quote] [url]http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23265-mystery-boson-earns-higgs-status-thanks-to-w-particle.html[/url] Arxiv pre-print: [url]http://arxiv.org/abs/1303.1812[/url] And there was much rejoicing.
Did we just win science?
:dance:
Amazing; Higgs boson acquired! Now to learn how to manipulate it and work out potential applications...
[QUOTE=Bassplaya7;39893104]Did we just win science?[/QUOTE] we will win science once we fully understand the universe.
What did the god particle say when his son left for college?
[QUOTE=DChapsfield;39893208]What did the god particle say when his son left for college?[/QUOTE] go to class i'm paying a lot of money for this
[QUOTE=DChapsfield;39893208]What did the god particle say when his son left for college?[/QUOTE] Does it have a speech impediment?
Still don't get why the fuck this is useful. Might tell where we originate from or whatever which is great, but what the fuck use is it to us?
[QUOTE=alexguydude;39893251]Still don't get why the fuck this is useful. Might tell where we originate from or whatever which is great, but what the fuck use is it to us?[/QUOTE] People thought the same thing when eccentric gentlemen played around with Leyden jars.
[QUOTE=alexguydude;39893251]Still don't get why the fuck this is useful. Might tell where we originate from or whatever which is great, but what the fuck use is it to us?[/QUOTE]Science, even if it has no capital value initially, is very important. The most important thing there is, in fact. EDIT: Sobotnik nailed it
[QUOTE=alexguydude;39893251]Still don't get why the fuck this is useful. Might tell where we originate from or whatever which is great, but what the fuck use is it to us?[/QUOTE] It bothers me that there are people who wake up in the same world as me and don't see any value in the question, "How does this place work?"
[QUOTE=alexguydude;39893251]Still don't get why the fuck this is useful. Might tell where we originate from or whatever which is great, but what the fuck use is it to us?[/QUOTE] Fucking phillistine [editline]a[/editline] Just because you can't see the immediate use of something doesn't mean it's useless. The broader and deeper our understanding of the universe is, the more we can use it to our advantage.
[QUOTE=alexguydude;39893251]Still don't get why the fuck this is useful. Might tell where we originate from or whatever which is great, but what the fuck use is it to us?[/QUOTE] First of all, engineering and medicine are science being applied to fulfil human needs. Without medicine, you die, or your quality of life is low and then you die. Without engineering, you have no computer, no internet, no clothes, no roof over your house. Basically everything you see around you as you sit in your chair in front of the computer would not exist. Both of these rely on a good understanding of the science behind them, and on the scientific models being accurate. If we don't verify our models via experiments (e.g. confirming that the Higgs boson really does exist as the model has predicted), we don't know the limits of our knowledge, and can't apply any of it effectively. So while to some it may sound like confirming the existence of a subatomic particle in a giant underground experiment has absolutely no effect on people's everyday lives, that is not true. In time, it will have its effect. [editline]13th March 2013[/editline] Secondly, it's just human curiosity that makes us want to find out how everything around us works.
I'm surprised that it's happened this quickly. I study physics at uni, and one of my lecturers works for CERN. She said that in order to confirm that the Higgs-like particle is actually the Higgs, all predicted decays methods would have to be observed. As of 4-5 weeks ago, her group hadn't observed anything.
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;39893532]It bothers me that there are people who wake up in the same world as me and don't see any value in the question, "How does this place work?"[/QUOTE] I think that every time I operate a car but the car still works fine personally I think we should build an automobile collider to see how they work
[QUOTE=Zeke129;39894041]I think that every time I operate a car but the car still works fine personally I think we should build an automobile collider to see how they work[/QUOTE] They've done that. It's called the Daytona 500. It doesn't work very well.
[QUOTE=laserguided;39893143]we will win science once we fully understand the universe.[/QUOTE] [I]“There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.”[/I]
[QUOTE=Lijitsu;39894090]They've done that. It's called the Daytona 500. It doesn't work very well.[/QUOTE] It doesn't? It seems to collide cars all the time.
[QUOTE=Lijitsu;39894090]They've done that. It's called the Daytona 500. It doesn't work very well.[/QUOTE] that's not a collider it's an accelerator, it just breaks sometimes
[URL]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1252305[/URL] But, The CERN reps said they don't know what the spin is yet... [editline]hmmm[/editline] Yer, the spin state isn't definite in CMS's paper, which is the first reference on the paper in OP. [url]http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.7235[/url]
[QUOTE=alexguydude;39893251]Still don't get why the fuck this is useful. Might tell where we originate from or whatever which is great, but what the fuck use is it to us?[/QUOTE] It means we're one step closer to finding a theory that correctly describes everything in our universe, AKA, the Theory of Everything. What price would [I]you[/I] pay for the ability of being able to know how everything works.
[QUOTE=Yahnich;39894397]so until we get a spin of 0 this still means nothing, sucks i wonder what would happen if it had a non-zero spin, would every physicist in the world just flip a shit[/QUOTE] If it has a spin of 2, it could be a graviton.....
[QUOTE=Bradyns;39894435]If it has a spin of 2, it could be a graviton.....[/QUOTE] tbh that would be even more mindblowing [editline]12th March 2013[/editline] I haven't seen any discussion of it possibly being a graviton though, is there something that leads us to believe it's probably a Higgs boson instead?
[QUOTE=Yahnich;39894482]oh, but doesn't a graviton have to be massless?[/QUOTE] Oh wait yeah, there is that. [editline]12th March 2013[/editline] They do have to be massless since gravitation propagates at c
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;39893065][url]http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23265-mystery-boson-earns-higgs-status-thanks-to-w-particle.html[/url] Arxiv pre-print: [url]http://arxiv.org/abs/1303.1812[/url] And there was much rejoicing.[/QUOTE] Why does the article says that it's mass is "126 GeV". shouldn't it be GeV/c^2?
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;39893532]It bothers me that there are people who wake up in the same world as me and don't see any value in the question, "How does this place work?"[/QUOTE] I love the hypocrisy of physics majors though. They make fun of the philosophy departments at college for asking the exact same question
[QUOTE=Snord;39894522]Why does the article says that it's mass is "126 GeV". shouldn't it be GeV/c^2?[/QUOTE] Probably using c = 1 [editline]12th March 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=prooboo;39894524]I love the hypocrisy of physics majors though. They make fun of the philosophy departments at college for asking the exact same question[/QUOTE] I certainly don't. It seems kind of hard to disentangle (heheh) quantum mechanics and philosophy. Although I to like to poke fun at my philosophy grad friend. [editline]12th March 2013[/editline] Basically what I'm saying is you're probably taking stuff too seriously stop whining loser philosopher
[QUOTE=alexguydude;39893251]Still don't get why the fuck this is useful. Might tell where we originate from or whatever which is great, but what the fuck use is it to us?[/QUOTE] How dense are you exactly?
[QUOTE=JohnnyMo1;39894468]tbh that would be even more mindblowing [editline]12th March 2013[/editline] I haven't seen any discussion of it possibly being a graviton though, is there something that leads us to believe it's probably a Higgs boson instead?[/QUOTE] CERN reps mentioned it in a web seminar last week. [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgAWstsYxOQ[/url]
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