What's the Higgs Boson

This is the graphic illustration of the controversial Higgs boson. Named after the Scottish physicist Peter Higgs, the boson is a controversial elementary particle because of its relevance to the "Standard Model". What's the Standard Model? It's the summary of all theories about the creation of the universe. It describes how the physical universe works, how forces and matter affect each other and how they are related. The Higg's field quanta, the Boson, would complete or strengthen the Standard Model because it would provide answers on how the universe works and why it behaves that way or this way. Higgs boson will allow physicist to transcend from explaining the what, hows, where, when to the why of theoretical physics.

So, if the theory is correct and the quanta exists, scientists will be able to create matter/mass because the boson's main importance is its ability to bestow mass in other particles. If they discover how the boson works or how it behaves the way it does, it would definitely unlock the secrets of the universe and lead to an explanation of "dark matter", which physicists say, comprises 25% of the known universe.

Current knowledge on the existence of the Higgs Boson

Michigan physicist Gordon Kane explains that there are some indications that the boson exists. Says Kane:

"According to quantum field theory, all particles spend a little time as combinations of all other particles, including the Higgs boson. This changes their properties a little in ways that we know how to calculate and that have been well verified. Studies of the effect the Higgs boson has on other particles reveal that experiment and theory are consistent only if the Higgs boson exists and is lighter than around 170 giga electron volts (GeV), or about 180 proton masses. Because this is an indirect result, it is not rigorous proof. Several unknown contributions could, in principle, combine to mimic the appearance of the Higgs. That is, however, very unlikely. More concrete evidence of the Higgs came from an experiment conducted at the European laboratory for particle physics (CERN) using the Large Electron Positron (LEP) collider in its final days of operation. That research revealed a possible direct signal of a Higgs boson with mass of about 115 GeV and all the expected properties. Together these make a very convincing—although not yet definitive—case that the Higgs boson does indeed exist."

Last January 9 2007, scientists came closer to the discovery of the Higgs boson. At the Fermilab National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, an international team of scientists, including members of UCL Physics, has made the most precise measurement to date of the mass of the W boson, a sub-atomic particle.

The discovery means that the average mass of the W boson, taken from data collected from research all over the world, is now accurate to within 0.06 per cent. The W boson particle carries the weak nuclear force and is an important part of the ‘standard model’ of particles and forces – a theory governing how three of the four types of energy (strong, weak and electromagnetic, but not gravity) work.

The knock-on effect of this discovery is that the Higgs boson – a particle that has not yet been discovered, but which is thought to be the missing step to completing the standard model – is lighter than previously thought. Knowing this, it will be easier to detect the particle in future experiments.

The data on the W boson was obtained at the Tevatron particle accelerator, which fires particles into each other at high speed and analyses the fall-out from their collisions. With many millions of collisions taking place simultaneously and over an extremely short period, massive quantities of data are being generated at the site near Chicago.

Dr Robert Staffin, associate director for high energy physics and the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science, said: “This new precision determination of the W boson mass by CDF is one of the most challenging and important measurements from the Tevatron. Together the W-boson and top-quark masses allow us to triangulate the location of the elusive Higgs boson.”

So, are we closer to an age where man can now create mass out of nothing?

Are we ready for this kind of power?

The Higgs boson, physicists say, is another kind of matter. Some say, it is that kind of matter that bestows power to those who know its secrets.

The question that I would like to pose to the world is this-- are we ready for such kind of power? Are we responsible enough to be given this opportunity to create something out of nothing, I mean, the power to be gods ourselves?

Will this power be the "end all" and "be all" of everything? Or, will it lead us to our own self-annihilation?

When the world turned nuclear, nations of the world fought and died to have a monopoly of this power. Now, we are on the threshold of discovering the most important truth of all time. Are we prepared for this? I'll discuss this in my next blog.