ShareIs this the final run in the quest for the Higgs Boson?
In March 2012, physicists from Fermilab’s Tevatron collider near Chicago announced that data collected could suggest the existence of the Higgs boson. Furthermore, the results coincide with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) results released by CERN in December 2011.
In March 2012, physicists from Fermilab’s Tevatron collider near Chicago announced that data collected could suggest the existence of the Higgs boson. Furthermore, the results coincide with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) results released by CERN in December 2011. Excesses in the data collected at Tevatron suggest the existence of a particle with a mass between 115-135 giga-electronvolts (GeV). LHC physicists announced similar results suggestive of a Higgs with a mass of between 124-126 GeV.
The Tevatron finished its last run in September 2011, leaving an enormous amount of data to be analysed. The level of certainty of the existence of the Higgs boson hinted by the results reached around 2.2 sigma, which means that there is about a one in 36 chance that the anomaly they see is the result of a mere coincidence. Last December, certain sources claimed that ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN presented Sigma levels of 2.5-3.5. In physics, statistical significance of 3 Sigma counts as an observation, while 5 Sigma is considered as the minimum level of certainty required to claim a formal discovery. ATLAS data “excluded” mass ranges up to 122.5 GeV, while the Tevatron data excludes the presence at the heavier masses of 147-179 GeV, which is completely consistent with the LHC findings of a comparatively “light” Higgs boson.
The research concentrates on “decay channels”: massive particles decay quickly into lighter ones after being produced in collisions in particle accelerators. The Higgs boson can break up into several types of particles, with various levels of likelihood. LHC experiments focused mostly on photon production. ATLAS experiments focused on the most likely decay scenarios in December, then later produced large amounts of data on several new decay channels with little likelihood of the presence of an actual Higgs. The CMS experiment dramatically improved the search in one particular channel, Higgs boson decaying into pairs of gamma rays. Tevatron data was from the production of bottom quarks and their counterparts, bottom antiquarks. According to Jim Siegrist, DOE Associate Director of Science for High Energy Physics, this “demonstrates the continuing importance of independent measurements.”
The Higgs boson is the last missing piece in the leading theory of particle physics known as the Standard Model, and explains how particles have mass: after the Big Bang, an invisible force known as the Higgs field formed together with its associated particle. It is this field that imparts mass to the fundamental particles that make up atoms and prevents them from zipping through the cosmos at the speed of light. The effect of the Higgs field on particles has been likened to the way a crowd of photographers congregates around a celebrity, creating résistance to the celebrity’s movement.
It is expected that LHC will produce three times the amount of data in 2012 as it did in 2011. Dr Tony Weidberg, an Oxford physicist working at LHC’s ATLAS detector, said that by the end of the year, discovery or exclusion of the particle will have been reached, and that both options are as exciting.
BBC News March 7, 2012 and December 13, 2011
The Tevatron finished its last run in September 2011, leaving an enormous amount of data to be analysed. The level of certainty of the existence of the Higgs boson hinted by the results reached around 2.2 sigma, which means that there is about a one in 36 chance that the anomaly they see is the result of a mere coincidence. Last December, certain sources claimed that ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN presented Sigma levels of 2.5-3.5. In physics, statistical significance of 3 Sigma counts as an observation, while 5 Sigma is considered as the minimum level of certainty required to claim a formal discovery. ATLAS data “excluded” mass ranges up to 122.5 GeV, while the Tevatron data excludes the presence at the heavier masses of 147-179 GeV, which is completely consistent with the LHC findings of a comparatively “light” Higgs boson.
The research concentrates on “decay channels”: massive particles decay quickly into lighter ones after being produced in collisions in particle accelerators. The Higgs boson can break up into several types of particles, with various levels of likelihood. LHC experiments focused mostly on photon production. ATLAS experiments focused on the most likely decay scenarios in December, then later produced large amounts of data on several new decay channels with little likelihood of the presence of an actual Higgs. The CMS experiment dramatically improved the search in one particular channel, Higgs boson decaying into pairs of gamma rays. Tevatron data was from the production of bottom quarks and their counterparts, bottom antiquarks. According to Jim Siegrist, DOE Associate Director of Science for High Energy Physics, this “demonstrates the continuing importance of independent measurements.”
The Higgs boson is the last missing piece in the leading theory of particle physics known as the Standard Model, and explains how particles have mass: after the Big Bang, an invisible force known as the Higgs field formed together with its associated particle. It is this field that imparts mass to the fundamental particles that make up atoms and prevents them from zipping through the cosmos at the speed of light. The effect of the Higgs field on particles has been likened to the way a crowd of photographers congregates around a celebrity, creating résistance to the celebrity’s movement.
It is expected that LHC will produce three times the amount of data in 2012 as it did in 2011. Dr Tony Weidberg, an Oxford physicist working at LHC’s ATLAS detector, said that by the end of the year, discovery or exclusion of the particle will have been reached, and that both options are as exciting.
BBC News March 7, 2012 and December 13, 2011