Physicists closing in on 'God particle'

[Rob]

Experiments at the world's biggest atom smasher have yielded tantalising hints that a long-sought sub-atomic particle truly exists, with final proof likely by late 2012, physicists said Monday.

"We know everything about the Higgs boson except whether it exists," said Rolf Heuer, director general of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN).

"We can settle this Shakespearean question -- to be or not to be -- by the end of next year," he told journalists at a web-cast press conference at CERN headquarters in Geneva.

Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Fermilab, meanwhile, also reported telltale signs of the elusive particle, heating up a longstanding rivalry between the two high-energy physics laboratories.

CERN and Fermilab have both reduced the range of mass within which the "God particle," as it is known, might be found to a fairly narrow, low-mass band.

"The search for the Higgs boson is entering its most exciting, final stage," Stefan Soldner-Rembold, spokesman for one of Fermilab's two key experiments, said last week in a statement.

Higgs or no Higgs, the stakes are huge either way, and could easily earn a Nobel Prize for the scientists who can take credit for the breakthrough.

The long-postulated particle, first proposed in 1964, is the missing cornerstone of an otherwise well-tested theory, called the Standard Model, which explains how known sub-atomic elements in the universe interact.

Without the 'God particle', however, that whole edifice falls apart because the Standard Model fails to answer one fundamental question: why do most elementary particles have mass?

British theoretical physicist Peter Higgs proposed a mechanism that would "save" the theory -- if the particle named for him truly exists.

"If you find the Boson Higgs, the Standard Model is complete. If you don't find it, then the Model has a serious problem. Both outcomes are discoveries," Heuer said.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) -- a 27-kilometre (16.9-mile) ring-shaped tunnel 100 metres (325 feet) below ground straddling the French-Swiss border -- was on track to crack the puzzle within 18 months, he said.

"The LHC is working beyond my expectations, as are the experiments" which, he added, are "now ready to bring us into unchartered territory."

Scientists have increased the amount of collisions delivered to the experiments by a factor of 20 over the last year, he noted.

The complex is designed to accelerate sub-atomic particles in opposite directions at nearly the speed of light and then smash them together, creating collisions that briefly stoke temperatures 100,000 times hotter than the Sun.

Researchers search the fleeting, sub-atomic rubble for clues to a host of unsolved mysteries about the origin and make-up of the universe.

"But don't expect too much too quickly," Heuer cautioned. "We are a factor of ten away from [the collision force] we hope to have at the end of next year. We are just in the middle," he said.

One piece stands out about this article.....

"Experiments at the world's biggest atom smasher have yielded tantalising hints that a long-sought sub-atomic particle truly exists, with final proof likely by late 2012"



Should be perfect timing

[Montehall]

this is going to be awesome!

[Mike Mercury]

Originally Posted by Dixievet

final proof likely by late 2012

treanslation: renew our research grant; or the "doctorates" face having to get real jobs.

[Kevin_73]

Originally Posted by Dixievet

One piece stands out about this article.....

"Experiments at the world's biggest atom smasher have yielded tantalising hints that a long-sought sub-atomic particle truly exists, with final proof likely by late 2012"



Should be perfect timing

I predict 12-21-12.

[Uncle Pervey]

Well, they are doing their level best to verify the Standard Model, because if they don't find the Higgs a whole lot of people are going to have to look for a new direction in Physics. Personally I think the universe is a lot stranger and more complicated than we'll ever know.

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by Mike Mercury

treanslation: renew our research grant; or the "doctorates" face having to get real jobs.

Yeah, cause there is no competition here, nor does it require actual work.

By the way, enjoy the technology that comes with advanced magnet development, among other things.

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by Uncle Pervey

Well, they are doing their level best to verify the Standard Model, because if they don't find the Higgs a whole lot of people are going to have to look for a new direction in Physics. Personally I think the universe is a lot stranger and more complicated than we'll ever know.

My favorite description of this style of research came from Feynman.

I'll paraphrase: It's like trying to figure out how watches work by smashing two of them together at extremely high speed and than going through the pieces.

Hard to say if this will actually come out how they think it will. Gell-Mann was pretty good at making predictions in the 60s about what sub-atomic particles would be found next.

I'm willing to bet they find something that takes them further down the rabbit hole.

[Flatbush Harry]

Originally Posted by Entropy

My favorite description of this style of research came from Feynman.

I'll paraphrase: It's like trying to figure out how watches work by smashing two of them together at extremely high speed and than going through the pieces.

Hard to say if this will actually come out how they think it will. Gell-Mann was pretty good at making predictions in the 60s about what sub-atomic particles would be found next.

I'm willing to bet they find something that takes them further down the rabbit hole.

"Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it."
— Richard P. Feynman

yHrar, needing a physic

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by Flatbush Harry

"Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it."
— Richard P. Feynman

yHrar, needing a physic

One of my favorite quotes.

[Flatbush Harry]

Originally Posted by Entropy

One of my favorite quotes.

Mine too.

and

Hrayr

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Which, IMHO, probably means they already found it and are trying to "cement" their findings which will be highly scrutinized.

Not quite yet. Both CERN and the Fermi Lab have found indications of a particle outside of the standard model, but have not yet been able to nail it down with hard evidence. This is the last of the standard model particles and if found would disprove all of the Higgsless models and help with the inconsistencies of mass and massless particles. It would be just as important to prove it didn't exist. The LHC has plenty of energy to do either.

Even if they find it, there will still be gravity as a goal to put together the Theory of Everything.

[69camfrk]

That shit is so far over my head I think I'll just have another beer and think about some stuff I understand like building a motor.

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

Even if they find it, there will still be gravity as a goal to put together the Theory of Everything.

I'm going to grab a snickers based on the amount of time and the quality of scientists who have been working on this part for the last ~100 years.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by 69camfrk

That shit is so far over my head I think I'll just have another beer and think about some stuff I understand like building a motor.

"If I could explain it to the average person, it wouldn't be worth the Nobel Prize" ~Feynman

Originally Posted by Entropy

I'm going to grab a snickers based on the amount of time and the quality of scientists who have been working on this part for the last ~100 years.

I'm with you on the rabbit hole...

[Flatbush Harry]

Keeping with my original theme, another of my have Feynman quotes, since I am a mathematician and not a physicist, is:

"Physics is to math what sex is to masturbation."
— Richard P. Feynman

yHarr, cuffing the ol' carrot

[carlton_fritz]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

"If I could explain it to the average person, it wouldn't be worth the Nobel Prize" ~Feynman




I'm with you on the rabbit hole...

That the thing Barack Obama got?

[Cybercowboy]

I love this sort of stuff with every part of my body.

Even my pee-pee.

Every. Part.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by carlton_fritz

That the thing Barack Obama got?

Nope. He got the Peace Prize. Pretty much like Miss Congeniality.

[OddBall]

I for one welcome our new God overlord.

[Mike Mercury]

Originally Posted by Entropy

Yeah, cause there is no competition here, nor does it require actual work.

By the way, enjoy the technology that comes with advanced magnet development, among other things.

sorry dude; anyone asking for research grant continuation... promising results the next year... is to be suspected.

Anyone - not in a cult - can see this.