Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
2 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,819 Year: 3,076/9,624 Month: 921/1,588 Week: 104/223 Day: 2/13 Hour: 1/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   Higg's Boson?
GDR
Member
Posts: 6202
From: Sidney, BC, Canada
Joined: 05-22-2005
Member Rating: 1.9


Message 1 of 49 (613431)
04-25-2011 9:59 AM


Link to newspaper article
Scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva may have detected the Higgs boson - the so-called "God particle."Photograph by: Fabrice Coffrini, AFP file photoLONDON - Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider are rumoured to have found the elusive so-called "God particle."
A leaked internal memo contains unconfirmed reports that one of the detectors at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, near Geneva, had picked up signals that could be the long-sought-after particle, called the Higgs boson.
One of the main scientific goals of the huge $10-billion atom smasher was to prove the existence of the Higgs boson, a theoretical particle believed to give everything in the universe mass.
The particle is a key part of the standard model used in physics to describe how particles and atoms are made up.
Rumours that scientists working on the LHC had found evidence of the Higgs boson began to circulate after a supposed internal memo was posted on the Internet.
But physicists were quick to urge caution over the claims as many candidates for the particle that appear in collision experiments at the LHC are subsequently dismissed on further examination.
Officials at CERN said the result had not yet been properly verified and could turn out to be a false alarm.
The memo revealed that one of the particle detectors at the LHC had caught a particle that could be a Higgs boson decaying into other high-energy particles known as photons.
The memo, written by four scientists working on the LHC's ATLAS experiment, warned the rate at which this happened was thirty times larger than would have been expected.
But it added: The present result is the first definitive observation of physics beyond the standard model.
Exciting new physics, including new particles, may be expected to be found in the very near future.
Some scientists initially said they believed the memo could have been a hoax, but it was confirmed as genuine by officials at CERN.
James Gillies, official spokesman for CERN, said that while the results note was genuine, it was one of thousands constantly being produced by scientists and that it was still in the very early stages of assessment.
He said: "It is far too early to say if there is anything to it or not. There are 3,000 scientists working on ATLAS and they divide the analysis work up between them.
"This is an internal communication that highlights something interesting, but it has to go through several stages of assessment by the scientific team before it will be released as an official result by the collaborative team.
"The majority of these things turn out to be nothing at all. It is very speculative at this stage, but there is a great deal of excitement and anticipation that something will be found, which is probably why this has found its way onto the Internet."
Despite the official caution, there was intense speculation on Internet blogs and scientific websites that the results described in the memo signalled the first discovery of the Higgs boson.
The rumours come as officials in CERN revealed they had set a new world record by producing the most intense beams of particles ever achieved.
The memo first appeared on the blog of physicist Peter Woit, from Columbia University. He wrote: "It’s the sort of thing you would expect to see if there were a Higgs at that mass, but the number of events seen is about 30 times more than the standard model would predict."
Professor Brian Cox, a particle physicist at Manchester University and presenter of the BBC's Wonders of the Universe, urged caution over the results.
Writing on the social networking site Twitter, he said: "The Higgs rumours are from an internal, unchecked ATLAS document. Very bad science to leak it. Many mistakes are made in un-reviewed papers."
Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by frako, posted 04-25-2011 10:04 AM GDR has not replied
 Message 4 by AZPaul3, posted 04-25-2011 10:43 AM GDR has not replied

  
GDR
Member
Posts: 6202
From: Sidney, BC, Canada
Joined: 05-22-2005
Member Rating: 1.9


Message 9 of 49 (613775)
04-27-2011 9:31 AM


CERN Response
CERN Lab Downplays God Particle Discovery
April 27, 2011
The world's biggest particle physics lab on Tuesday played down claims of a major discovery, after a leaked memo hinting that the elusive Higgs boson - or "God particle"- may have been found ricocheted around websites.
A spokesman for CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, says the memo wasn't intended for publication and the claims likely wouldn't withstand closer scrutiny. If proven to exist, the Higgs particle could explain why matter has mass, an enormous scientific breakthrough.
"The note is certainly genuine," spokesman James Gillies told The Associated Press on Tuesday. But he says such memos are merely the very first step in a rigorous peer-review process that tends to result in spectacular claims being knocked down by other scientists.
"I think the excitement is due mainly to the incredible sense of anticipation there is in particle physics at the moment," says Gillies.
The Whole Article

  
GDR
Member
Posts: 6202
From: Sidney, BC, Canada
Joined: 05-22-2005
Member Rating: 1.9


Message 11 of 49 (630082)
08-22-2011 10:38 AM


Does it exist?
The search is narrowing and they haven't found it yet. Maybe it's not there so can any of you bright lights tell us what that will mean?
BBC on CERN

Replies to this message:
 Message 12 by Bolder-dash, posted 08-22-2011 1:01 PM GDR has replied

  
GDR
Member
Posts: 6202
From: Sidney, BC, Canada
Joined: 05-22-2005
Member Rating: 1.9


(2)
Message 15 of 49 (630110)
08-22-2011 1:53 PM
Reply to: Message 12 by Bolder-dash
08-22-2011 1:01 PM


Re: Does it exist?
Bolder-dash writes:
I wonder if guys like Cavediver, who I am sure has believed in these things all along, when it turns out to be pure poppycock, will admit he was wrong? I am pretty sure I know the answer to this one.
That's more than a little unfair. The scientists come up with a theory and go out and put huge effort into finding out whether they are right or wrong. I'm sure you'll find that Cavediver, and the rest of them for that matter, will be more than happy to admit they they have gone down the wrong trail, (if that does prove to be the case), and start back looking for some other route that can be verified.

Everybody is entitled to my opinion.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 12 by Bolder-dash, posted 08-22-2011 1:01 PM Bolder-dash has not replied

  
GDR
Member
Posts: 6202
From: Sidney, BC, Canada
Joined: 05-22-2005
Member Rating: 1.9


(1)
Message 35 of 49 (643840)
12-12-2011 11:07 AM
Reply to: Message 34 by NoNukes
08-23-2011 3:35 AM


CERN progress report Tuesday
It looks like CERN will issue a report on Tuesday.
N Y Times article

This message is a reply to:
 Message 34 by NoNukes, posted 08-23-2011 3:35 AM NoNukes has seen this message but not replied

  
GDR
Member
Posts: 6202
From: Sidney, BC, Canada
Joined: 05-22-2005
Member Rating: 1.9


Message 36 of 49 (643953)
12-13-2011 10:50 AM


CERN Report
Here is that report from CERN.
From the N Y Times

Replies to this message:
 Message 37 by cavediver, posted 12-13-2011 5:46 PM GDR has replied

  
GDR
Member
Posts: 6202
From: Sidney, BC, Canada
Joined: 05-22-2005
Member Rating: 1.9


Message 38 of 49 (643980)
12-13-2011 6:02 PM
Reply to: Message 37 by cavediver
12-13-2011 5:46 PM


Re: CERN Report
Maybe not finding it will mean will justify the need for a more powerful accelerator.
However, I certainly would want you to feel good about yourself....
In our societies where we want instant results science seems so ponderously slow. However I am hopeful to see the results of some of this prior to shuffling off to whatever comes next. For those of you in the trade the wait must be agonizing.

Everybody is entitled to my opinion.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 37 by cavediver, posted 12-13-2011 5:46 PM cavediver has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 40 by Panda, posted 12-13-2011 6:23 PM GDR has not replied

  
GDR
Member
Posts: 6202
From: Sidney, BC, Canada
Joined: 05-22-2005
Member Rating: 1.9


Message 48 of 49 (645008)
12-22-2011 10:45 AM


New Particle
LHC reports discovery of its first new particle
BBC Report

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024