Scientists from
CERN in Geneva unveiled today preliminary data that provides evidence of the
long sought after Higgs particle.
AsianScientist (Jul. 4, 2012) –
Scientists from CERN in Geneva unveiled today preliminary data that provides
evidence of the long sought after Higgs particle.
In December last year, scientists working independently
on two giant detectors at the Large Haldron Collider (LHC) reported that they
had found hints
of the existence of the Higgs boson.
Although tantalizing hints were seen in the ranges
116-130 GeV by the ATLAS experiment and 115-127 GeV by the CMS experiment, the
claims were not strong enough at that point.
At a highly-anticipated press conference today, both the
ATLAS and CMS experiments reported strong indications for the presence of a new
particle in the mass region around 126 gigaelectronvolts (GeV) after analyzing
trillions of proton-proton collisions from the LHC in 2011 and 2012.
The particle is named after British physicist Peter
Higgs, who postulated in 1964 that a field somewhat similar to an
electromagnetic field might give particles their mass. It is sometimes also
referred to as the ‘God particle.’
Together with colleagues Robert Brout and François
Englert, Higgs postulated that all particles had no mass just after the Big
Bang. As the Universe cooled and the temperature fell below a critical value,
an invisible force field called the ‘Higgs field’ was formed together with the
associated ‘Higgs boson.’
The field prevails throughout the cosmos: any particles
that interact with it are given a mass via the Higgs boson. The more they
interact, the heavier they become, whereas particles that never interact are
left with no mass at all.
This idea provided a satisfactory solution and fitted
well with established theories and phenomena. But until now no one has ever
observed the Higgs boson in an experiment to confirm the theory.
“The results are preliminary but the 5 sigma signal at
around 125 GeV we’re seeing is dramatic. This is indeed a new particle. We know
it must be a boson and it’s the heaviest boson ever found,” said CMS experiment
spokesperson Joe Incandela.
The next step will be to determine the precise nature of
the particle and its significance for our understanding of the universe.
Positive identification of the new particle’s
characteristics will take considerable time and data, and the teams say they
will be “extremely diligent” in further studies and cross-checks.
Publication of the analyses shown today is expected
around the end of July, and more data is being collected at the LHC.
Both experiments involved thousands of scientists from
over a hundred institutes in 30 countries, including Australia, China, India,
Japan, and Taiwan.
——
Source: CERN.
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